The River Caldew is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

running through

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

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 ...

. The river rises high up on the northern flanks of Skiddaw, in the Northern Fells area of the English Lake District, and flows in a northerly direction until it joins the River Eden on the north side of the city of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

. The Cumbria Way follows most of the course of the river, from its early stages in the ''Skiddaw Forest'' to Carrock Fell and again from

Caldbeck Caldbeck is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, historically within Cumberland, it is situated within the Lake District National Park. Part of the parish lies within the Skiddaw Group SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). T ...

through to the centre of

Etymology

" Probably 'the cold river', from OE 'cald' and OE 'éa' 'river', influenced by OFr 'ewe' 'water'....However, the possibility that this is a Brit. shname meaning 'swift river' from the same root as 'Calder' cannot be ruled out altogether." (OE=

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, OFr=

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th British language).

Source of river

The River Caldew's

source is high up on Skiddaw, between the Summit (topography)">summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

and Sale How. Candleseaves Bog is an area of wetland between Skiddaw and Great Calva that contributes to the flow of the river in its early stages. During the Middle Ages, the Juncus effusus, common rush (''Juncus effusus'') was important for making rushlight, rushlights. In

''sedges'' and ''rushes'' were known as '' " seaves " '', hence the origin of the name '' " Candleseaves " ''.

Course of river

From its source in the ''Skiddaw Forest'' the river runs east through a valley between Bowscale Fell and Carrock Fell. At Hutton Roof, the river emerges from the dale and turns sharply northwards, a course taking it through the settlements of Hesket Newmarket, Sebergham, Buckabank and Dalston. At Buckabank the river flows over a weir that provides a mill stream to the cotton mill and there is a salmon ladder. Flowing under Hawksdale Bridge at Bridge End and Dalston's two other bridges (Jubilee Bridge and the White Bridge) the river then flows towards Cummersdale where another weir used to exist above the now modernised textile mill. In 2016 the floodwaters of the swollen river Caldew washed away the eighteenth-century Bell Bridge at Sebergham. The river enters the suburbs of

north of Cummersdale flowing over a weir in Denton Holme at the site of a large Victorian mill. The river flows through the city from Denton Holme beneath west walls and then the Caldew skirts around the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Etymology

Source of river

Course of river

See also

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

External links