Topics > Cumbria > Rivers in Cumbria > River Irt

River Irt


 

The River Irt is a river in the county of Cumbria in northern England. It flows for from the south-western end of Wast Water, the deepest lake in England, leaving the lake at the foot of Whin Rigg, the southern peak of the famous Wastwater Screes. The name of the river is believed to derive either from the Old English gyr which means "mud", or from the Brittonic words *ar, "flowing", or *īr, "fresh, clean, pure", suffixed with -ed, a nominal suffix meaning "having the quality of...".

The river forms at the confluence of Lingmell Beck and Mosedale Beck on Wasdale Head, which is on the north-western side of Scafell Pike. On its short journey to the coast, the Irt is crossed by the Cumbria Coastal Way long-distance footpath, at Drigg Holme packhorse bridge. The Irt flows through the Drigg Dunes and Irt Estuary Nature Reserve before joining the River Esk and River Mite at Ravenglass. The river is tidal up until the railway bridge that carries the Cumbrian Coast Line just south of railway station.

In the 19th century the River Irt was famous for the extremely rare black pearls that grew in its freshwater mussels. Poaching of the pearls was thought to have led to the mussels becoming extinct in the River Irt, however, a very small number have survived. The West Cumbria Rivers Trust carried out conservation work on the river between February 2015 and February 2018 to try and protect the habitat and prevent the complete eradication of the freshwater mussel from the river.

Settlements

  • Nether Wasdale
  • Santon Bridge
  • Holmrook
  • Drigg
  • Ravenglass

Tributaries

  • Greathall Beck
  • Cinderdale Beck
  • Black Beck
  • Kid Beck
  • River Bleng
Text from Wikipedia, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (accessed: 09/03/2021).
Visit the page: River Irt for references and further details. You can contribute to this article on Wikipedia.
Rivers in Cumbria Santon Bridge Nether Wasdale Irton Ravenglass
from Geograph (geograph)
River Irt from Santon Bridge

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Holme Bridge across the River Irt

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
River Irt

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from Geograph (geograph)
Ravenglass

Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from https://environment.data.gov.…
River Irt upstream of Bleng confluence

Added by
Simon Cotterill
from https://environment.data.gov.…
River Irt (downsteam of Bleng confluence)

Added by
Simon Cotterill
Nether Wasdale
  Co-Curate Page
Nether Wasdale
- Overview About Nether Wasdale Map   Nether Wasdale is a village in Cumbria, England, located in the Wasdale valley, near the River Irt and just over a mile to the …
Irton
  Co-Curate Page
Irton
- Overview Map Street View Irton is a hamlet in the Copeland district of Cumbria, which includes Irton Hall and a few cottages. The settlement, situated by the River Irt, is …
Ravenglass
  Co-Curate Page
Ravenglass
- Overview About Ravenglass Map Street View Ravenglass is a coastal village in the Copeland district of Cumbria, located about 18 miles north-west of Barrow-in-Furness and 15 miles south-east of Whitehaven. …
Santon Bridge
  Co-Curate Page
Santon Bridge
- Overview Map Street View Santon Bridge is a village in Cumbria, situated by the River Irt, and located about 3½ miles north-east of Ravenglass and 12 miles south-east of Whitehaven. …

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