The River Darwen runs through

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

and

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England, eventually joining the

River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...

at Walton le Dale south of Preston on its way to the Ribble Estuary.

Course

Originating at Jack's Key Clough where Grain Brook and Grainings Brook meet, the two streams from Bull Hill and Cranberry Moss respectively, the river flows through the town of Darwen, continuing into the suburbs of Blackburn past

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

. The river passes below the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

at Ewood Aqueduct and is culverted again at Waterfall and near Griffin Park. It is joined by the River Blakewater near Witton Country Park in Blackburn and leaves the mostly urban landscapes of the towns behind, flowing through parklands and valleys. A further tributary, the River Roddlesworth, joins the Darwen at the bottom of Moulden Brow on the boundary between

Blackburn with Darwen Blackburn with Darwen is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, North West England. The borough includes the towns of Blackburn and Darwen plus a wider rural area which includes the villages of ...

and

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

Borough Council (the name ''Moulden Brow'' being associated with Moulden Water, an alternative name for this stretch of the river). From there, the Darwen flows past

Hoghton Tower Hoghton Tower is a fortified manor house east of the village of Hoghton, Lancashire, England, and stands on a hilltop site on the highest point in the area. It takes its name from the De Hoghton baronets, de Hoghton family, its historical ...

through Hoghton Bottoms and Samlesbury Bottoms, finally combining with the

Walton-le-Dale Walton-le-Dale is a large village in the borough of South Ribble, in Lancashire, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Ribble, opposite the city of Preston, adjacent to Bamber Bridge. The population of the South Ribble Ward at the ...

Places of interest

* A small Memorial Garden for

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the class ...

is on the river bank at

Higher Walton, Lancashire Higher Walton is a village in South Ribble, Lancashire, England. It is on the old road between Blackburn and Preston where it crosses the River Darwen. The road, at this point, is now part of the A675. Nearby places include Walton-le-Dale, ...

. * Parkway and Higher Croft Woods, south of

, is a Biological Heritage Site (BHS) which also received a Local Nature Reserve status in 2005 * Walton-le-Dale, location of the Battle of Preston during the

Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February and August 1648 in Kingdom of England, England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639–1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 164 ...

, captured a Parliamentarian army victory in a poem "To Cromwell" by

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

: -

" While Darwent Streams with Blood of Scots imbru'd..."

:The poem names the river "Darwent," giving us evidence of its derivation from a Brythonic dialect form similar to the

Old Welsh Old Welsh () is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic around 550, ha ...

''derwenyd'' ( Modern Welsh ''derwenydd''), meaning "valley thick with oaks".

History

The river was polluted with human and industrial effluent during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, and this contamination continued until the early 1970s. The river often changed colour dramatically as a result of paper and paint mills routinely using the river water to flush out dye and paint tanks. This process has now ceased, and as a result the river water is now relatively clear which has resulted in the return of trout and small fish. In 2012 a section of the river which had remained in a culvert for 100 years was uncovered at an area of Darwen known as Shorey Bank. Throughout the course of the river many improvements have resulted in improved water quality.Freshwater Life
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Tributaries

*Hennel Brook **Cockshott Brook *Many Brooks **Black Brook ***Hatchwood Brook **Fowler Brook ***Drum Head Brook ****Gorton Brook ****Mill Brook ***Bank Head Brook *Old Darwen *Beeston Brook **Quaker Brook *Hole Brook **Huntley Brook (North) **Huntley Brook (South) *Alum House Brook **Arley Brook *Trout Brook * River Roddlesworth **Finnington Brook **Stockclough Brook ***Whitehalgh Brook ****Shaw Brook ****Chapels Brook ****Sheep Bridge Brook **Rake Brook **Calf Hey Brook **Ferny Bed Springs * River Blakewater **Snig Brook **Audley Brook **Little Harwood Brook ***Royshaw Clough ***Seven Acre Brook **Knuzden Brook *Scotshaw Brook **Moss Brook **Badger Brook *Higher Croft Brook **Newfield Brook *Davy Field Brook **Flash Brook **Grimshaw Brook ***Waterside Brook ****Mean Brook *****Sapling Clough ****Hoddlesden Moss Brook *****Far Scotland Brook ****Pickup Bank Brook *****Moss Brook *****Twitchells Brook *Sunnyhurst Brook **Stepback Brook *Bold Venture Brook **High Lumb Brook ***Livesey Brook *Kebbs Brook **Green Lowe Brook *Bury Fold Brook **Old Briggs Brook ***Duckshaw Brook *Grainings Brook *Grain Brook **Bent Hall Brook **Deadman's Clough

References

External links

River Darwen
Cotton Town. Retrieved 19 June 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Darwen Rivers of Lancashire Rivers of Blackburn with Darwen 1Darwen