The River Croal 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 ...

located in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

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 is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

River Irwell The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north-west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam Locks. The Irwell marks the bound ...

. Rising at the confluence of Middle Brook and Deane Church Brook, it flows eastwards through

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, collecting ''Gilnow Brook'' and the larger '' River Tonge'' at Darcy Lever. Most of the river is

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

ed through Bolton town centre, running under Knowsley Street, Market Place and Bridge Street. Before 1836, the River Croal formed the boundary between the townships of

Great Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

and Little Bolton. The name of the river is derived from the

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 ...

''croh'' and ''wella'', the winding stream. It was possibly originally called the Middlebrook along its entire length as early references mention the ''Mikelbrok'', (''mycel'' and ''broc''), the great stream but not the Croal. It meets the Irwell at Nob End, Kearsley after a total course of around ten miles.

Tributaries

* Doe Hey Brook (R) ** Will Hill Brook * Blackshaw Brook (L) * River Tonge ** Bradshaw Brook ** Astley Brook ** Eagley Brook * Middle Brook (Ls) ** Bessy Brook ** Knutshaw Brook (R) * Deane Church Brook (Rs)

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

River Croal Photographs

Snake Oil UE, River Croal Culverts
Croal Croal Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton 1Croal Croal catchment {{England-river-stub