The River Amber is a left bank tributary of the River Derwent in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It gives its name to the

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

and

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Amber Valley Amber Valley is a local government district with borough status in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. Its council is based in Ripley. The district covers a semi-rural area lying to the north of the city of ...

.Amber Valley Borough Council website
/ref> The name Amber is a pre-Celtic word with uncertain meaning.

Course

Its source is close to the village of

Ashover Ashover is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire. It is in the North East Derbyshire district of the county. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 Census was 1,905, increasing to 1,959 for the 2021 censu ...

, near

Clay Cross Clay Cross is a town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. It is a former industrial and mining town, about south of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield. It is directly ...

, and it flows southwards through Ogston Reservoir to

Pentrich Pentrich is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish between Belper and Alfreton in Amber Valley, Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 191. Pentrich rising The village gave its name to the Pentrich risi ...

then turns westwards through Wingfield Park to join the River Derwent at

Ambergate Ambergate () is a village in Derbyshire, England, situated where the River Amber joins the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent. It is about south of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. The village forms part of the Heage and Ambergate ward of ...

. Like many such rivers flowing from the Derbyshire moors, it powered a number of

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

s, many of them for crushing locally mined and quarried minerals, such as

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. The river valley also provided a route for the

Cromford Canal The Cromford Canal ran from Cromford to the Erewash Canal in Derbyshire, England with a branch to Pinxton. Built by William Jessop with the assistance of Benjamin Outram, its alignment included four tunnels and 14 canal lock, locks. From Crom ...

, at the southern end as far as

Butterley Tunnel Butterley Tunnel is a disused canal tunnel on the Cromford Canal below Ripley, in Derbyshire, England, opened to traffic in 1794. Along with Butterley Works blast furnaces, part of the canal tunnel and its underground wharf were declared a sc ...

, and the

North Midland Railway The North Midland Railway was a railway line and Great Britain, British railway company, which opened a line from the city of Derby in Derbyshire to the city of Leeds in Yorkshire in 1840. At Derby, it connected with the Birmingham and Derby J ...

, to travel northwards until it passed under

via the

Clay Cross Tunnel Clay Cross Tunnel is a tunnel on the Midland Main Line line near Clay Cross in Derbyshire, England. It was the most substantial single civil engineering feature present on the North Midland Railway and was one of the more ambitious railway tun ...

, where it entered the valley of the River Rother and then north to Chesterfield.

References

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

Amber Valley 1Amber {{England-river-stub