# River Mersey

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| River Mersey |
| River |
| The River Mersey at Liverpool, looking towards the Royal Liver Building |
| Kintra | Ingland |
| Counties | Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside |
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| Ceety | Liverpool, Manchester |
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| Primar soorce | (source of the River Tame) |
|  - location | west of Buckstones Moss, West Yorkshire |
|  - elevation | 473 m (1,552 ft) |
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| Seicontar soorce | (confluence of Tame and Goyt) |
|  - location | Stockport, Greater Manchester |
|  - elevation | 40 m (131 ft) |
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| Mooth |  |
|  - location | Liverpool Bay |
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| Lenth | 112 km (70 mi) |
| Basin | 4,680 km2 (1,807 sq mi) |
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| Designation |  |
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Ramsar Wetland |
| Offeecial name | Mersey Estuary |
| Designatit | 20 December 1995 |
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| The River Mersey is highlighted in red Click to enlarge map Coordinates: ﻿ / ﻿ |

The **River Mersey** is a river in North Wast Ingland. Its name comes fae the Auld Inglis leid an pits ower as "boundary river". The river micht hae been the mairch atween the auncient kinricks o Mercia an Northumbria an for centuries it formed pairt o the mairch atween the historic coonties o Lancashire an Cheshire.

The stairt o the Mersey is at the confluence o the River Tame an River Goyt in Stockport. It flowes wastwarts throu the suburban airts o sooth Manchester, then intae the Manchester Ship Canal at Irlam, becomin a pairt o the canal an maintaining the canal's watter levels. Efter 4 mile (6.4 km) the river exits the canal, flowin thewarts Warrington whaur the river widens. It then narraes as it passes atween the touns o Runcorn an Widnes. Frae Runcorn the river widens intae a muckle estuary, that is 3 mile (4.8 km) across at its widest pynt near Ellesmere Port. The course o the river then turns north as the estuary narraes atween Liverpuil an Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula tae the wast, an empties intae Liverpuil Bay. In tot the river flows 70.33 mile (113 km).

A railwey tunnel atween Birkenhead an Liverpuil as pairt o the Mersey Railway appent in 1886. Twa road tunnels pass unner the estuary frae Liverpuil: the Queensway Tunnel opened in 1934 connectin the ceety tae Birkenhead, an the Kingsway Tunnel, appent in 1971, tae Wallasey. A road brig, completit in 1961 an later named the Siller Jubilee Brig, crosses atween Runcorn an Widnes, adjacent tae the Runcorn Railway Brig which opened in 1868. A seicont road brig, the Mersey Gateway, opened in October 2017, carrying a sax-lane road connecting Runcorn's Central Expressway wi Speke Road an Queensway in Widnes. The Mersey Ferry operates atween Pier Heid in Liverpuil an Woodside in Birkenhead an Seacombe, an haes become a tourist attraction offerin cruises that provide an overview o the river an surroondin auries.

Watter quality in the Mersey wis severely affected bi industrialisation, an in 1985, the Mersey Basin Campaign wis established tae improve watter quality an encourage waterside regeneration. In 2009 it wis annoonced that the river is "cleaner than at any time since the industrial revolution" an is "now considered one of the cleanest in the UK". The Mersey Valley Countryside Warden Service manages local naitur reserves sic as Chorlton Een an Sale Watter Pairk. The river gae its name tae Merseybeat, developed bi bands frae Liverpuil, notably the Beatles. In 1965 it wis the subject o the tap-ten hit single "Ferry Cross the Mersey" bi Gerry an the Pacemakers.