# 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 (the Dee in Dentdale and the Twiss in Kingsdale being notable others).

## Etymology

The name Ribble may be a Brittonic compound-formation. The second element is the noun *pol, with connotations including "puddle, pond, upland-stream" (Welsh pwll). The first is rö-, an intensive prefix, with nouns meaning "great" (Welsh rhy-, Cornish re-).
Ribble may once have been known as *Bremetonā-, underlying the name Bremetenacum, the Roman fort at Ribchester. Involved here is the Brittonic root *breμ–, meaning "roaring" (c.f. Welsh brefu), as observed at the river-names Breamish in Northumberland, Braan in Scotland and Brefi in Wales.

## History

Neolithic to Saxon finds from along the River Ribble during the creation of the Preston Docks and others revealed man has been in the area for a long time. The River Ribble looked completely different then and the coastline is likely to have been much further inland than it is at present where land has been reclaimed and the marsh extended out into the River Ribble due to sedimentation.
The Ribble would appear to have been known in Roman times as the Belisama, possibly giving its name to Samlesbury. Ptolemy's "Belisama aest." seems to represent the estuary of the Ribble. Bremetennacum was a Roman fort that guarded a crossing-point of the river at Ribchester. Remains of another Roman site were discovered at Walton-le-Dale in the mid-19th century.
The Cuerdale Hoard, the largest Viking silver hoard ever found outside Russia was discovered in 1840 on the southern bank of a bend of the river, at Cuerdale near Preston. Whilst the medieval silver Mitton Hoard was found near where this river joins the River Hodder in 2009.
At one time the Ribble marked the northernmost extent of the ancient kingdom of Mercia. At the time of the Domesday Book, the river formed the northern boundary of an area of land (known as Inter Ripam et Mersam) that was included in the Domesday information for Cheshire, though it was probably not formally part of the county of Cheshire.
Sawley Abbey was founded by Cistercian monks in 1147, at a bend in the river. It is thought that the monks built a weir to supply a mill race that powered a corn mill within the abbey precinct.
After his defeat in the Battle of Hexham in 1464 (during the Wars of the Roses), King Henry VI went into hiding at a number of houses belonging to his supporters. A little over a year later he was at Waddington Hall in Waddington. On 13 July 1465, a group of Yorkists, including the property-owner's brother, arrived at the hall to arrest him. Escaping into nearby woods, Henry was captured soon after crossing the river at the old stepping stones at Brungerley.
Around 1785, a large weir was constructed across the river, slightly downstream at Waddow Hall, to supply water to a cotton mill at Low Moor. The site relied on water power right up to closure around 1930, although the water wheels gradually gave way to water turbines and were augmented by steam engines.
During 2009, an Archimedean screw type hydropower station was constructed at Settle weir near Bridge End Mill. Built for a community-owned company, Settle Hydro, the site became operational by the end of the year. As of February 2024, the generator has produced 1.2 million kWh of electricity.

## Geography

The Ribble begins at the confluence of the Gayle Beck and Batty Wife Beck near the viaduct at Ribblehead, in the shadow of the Yorkshire three peaks. It is the only major river rising in Yorkshire which flows westward. It flows through Settle, Clitheroe, Ribchester and Preston, before emptying into the Irish Sea between Lytham St. Annes and Southport, a length of 75 miles (121 km). Its main tributaries are the Hodder and Calder which join the river near Great Mitton, the River Darwen which joins at Walton-le-Dale and the River Douglas which joins near Hesketh Bank.
Above Hellifield the valley of the river is known as Ribblesdale.
The Ribble Way is a long-distance footpath which follows the river for much of its course. The river is connected to both the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Lancaster Canal (via the Ribble Link). The river downstream of Preston was actively dredged when Preston was an active port; this is no longer done and silt from the river is now spreading more widely over the (sand) beaches around Fairhaven and St. Annes.
Its 10-mile-wide (16 km) estuary forms part of the Ribble and Alt Estuaries Special Protection Area for wildlife. An average of 340,000 water birds over-winter in the estuary making it the most important wetland site in Britain. The Ribble is also a key breeding ground for the endangered Atlantic salmon.
1.25 million people live in the Ribble's catchment area.
The Normal Tidal Limit (NTL) of the river is at Fishwick Bottoms, between Preston and Walton-le-Dale, 11 miles (18 km) from the sea.
The River Ribble has the third-largest tides in England, with tides that run at 4 knots (5 mph; 7 km/h) and a tidal range at the mouth of the river of 30 feet (9 m) during spring tides. Since River Ribble dredging ceased, the estuary is filling up with sand and is developing a meandering path, depending on the tides and river runoff. In addition, many tributaries flow into the main channel including the Savick Brook/Ribble Link, while the River Douglas, has a significant influence both on sediment transport and hydrodynamics of the estuary.

## Crossings

There was a bridge at Edisford, Clitheroe in 1339. The age of the present sandstone bridge is not known, but parts contain features indicating they may date to the late medieval period. The current Ribchester Bridge dates from 1774. It replaced one built in 1669, which also had a predecessor of unknown age.
Evidence of a bridge between Preston and Walton-le-Dale occurs in a deed in the early 13th century. A stone bridge was built in the early 1400s, possibly just west of the present Walton Bridge which was completed in 1781. Until 1755 this was the only bridge over the Ribble at Preston. The original attempt to build a bridge directly to Penwortham was completed in 1755, only to collapse the following year. The Penwortham Old Bridge opened in 1759 to replace it. In 1802 the Lancaster Canal Company completed a timber trestle bridge to facilitate a temporary tramroad to connect the two isolated sections of the canal. The missing section was never completed and, although heavily modified, the disused Old Tramroad Bridge still stands today.

### Ferries (historic)

Several ferry crossings were marked along the lower part of the river, on the first Ordnance Survey map of Lancashire, published in the 1840s. The Hacking Ferry near Hacking Hall and Trowers Ferry near Dinckley Hall. Another, downstream of Osbaldeston Hall and the Balderstone Hall Ferry. Also at Samlesbury Church as well as an old boat house, upstream of Penwortham Old Bridge.
It is uncertain when these services began. A 1354 charter assigned some land for the use of the ferryman near Ribchester, possibly referring to the crossing near Osbaldeston Hall. The Hacking Ferry seems to have been funded by the Shireburn family of Stonyhurst, and established during the 1600s. It continued operating as a regular toll service until 1938, but continued occasionally afterward until it finally ceased operation in 1955. In later years it operated two johnboat-type rowing boats. The older boat could carry twelve passengers and a newer boat had a capacity of 19. The former is now in the collection at Clitheroe Castle Museum.

### Estuary crossing proposals

A Ribble estuary fixed crossing has been proposed on several occasions, to provide a quicker route between the seaside resorts of Southport and Blackpool. Two routes for a tramroad were proposed; the first in 1899 outlined a route between Crossens and Lytham, then between 1900 and 1906 as a route from Crossens to Warton via Hesketh Bank. A railway tunnel was proposed in 1907, between Hesketh Bank and Warton. A bridge was proposed between 1938 and 1947. A road link was campaigned for in 2007, envisaging a development similar to the Rance Tidal Power Station in Brittany. In 2011, an April fools' joke suggested a 9-mile-long (14 km) road tunnel from Marshside to Lytham St Annes.

## Ecology

The River Ribble catchment is covered by the Ribble Rivers Trust, a UK based charity working to improve, protect and promote the River Ribble for both people and wildlife. The Ribble Estuary is an Internationally important Ramsar Wetland site, a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, a Marine Conservation Zone up to Samlesbury, Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a National Nature Reserve, and is under development as a Coast & Wetlands Regional Park.
Preston City Council published plans to build a barrage across the River Ribble, in their 'Riverworks' proposals (2006). The aim of these proposals was to build a barrage and a water sports park on a section of the Ribble, coupled with over 4,000 units of housing and businesses in the river's flood plain. Some local residents opposed these plans, arguing that they endanger wildlife, increase flood risk to local housing and damage greenbelt areas. These residents set up the Save The Ribble campaign, and their two-year information campaign successfully overturned Preston City Council's proposals, and South Ribble Borough Council announced the alternative creation of a Country Park. Parts of the river are a County Biological Heritage Site.

## Settlements
### North Yorkshire

* Horton in Ribblesdale
* Stainforth
* Stackhouse
* Langcliffe
* Giggleswick
* Settle
* Halton West
* Nappa

### Lancashire

* Paythorne
* Gisburn
* Sawley
* West Bradford
* Horrocksford
* Clitheroe
* Great Mitton
* Brockhall Village
* Little Town
* Ribchester
* Samlesbury
* Walton-le-Dale
* Preston
* Penwortham
* Tarleton
* Hundred End
* Banks
* Lytham

## Main tributaries

* River Douglas or River Asland
* Savick Brook
* River Darwen
* Stydd Brook
* Dinckley Brook
* River Calder
* River Hodder

## Name

The River Ribble gives its name to the local government boroughs of Ribble Valley and South Ribble, and the Ribble Valley parliamentary constituency. The Ribble Bus Company once operated throughout North West England. The Ribble also lends its name to the Ribble Steam Railway.