River Leven, North Yorkshire

River Leven
The mouth of the Leven.
Country	England
Basin
Main source	Kildale Moor, Nth Yorks 279 metres (915 ft) 54°27′50″N 1°2′47″W / 54.46389°N 1.04639°W / 54.46389; -1.04639 (Primary source of River Leven)
River mouth	River Tees at Yarm 16 metres (52 ft) 54°30′31″N 1°20′12″W / 54.50861°N 1.33667°W / 54.50861; -1.33667 (Mouth of River Leven, North Yorkshire)Coordinates: 54°30′31″N 1°20′12″W / 54.50861°N 1.33667°W / 54.50861; -1.33667 (Mouth of River Leven, North Yorkshire)
Basin size	196.3 square kilometres (75.8 sq mi)
Physical characteristics
Length	46.2 kilometres (28.7 mi)

The River Leven is a river in North Yorkshire, England, a tributary to the River Tees. It rises on Warren Moor, part of Kildale Moor, in the North York Moors and flows to the north of the moors to join the River Tees at Yarm.

Course

The source of the river is on Warren Moor, part of Kildale Moor, just south of the village of Kildale. It flows east until it reaches the Whitby to Middlesbrough rail line where it does a complete turnaround to flow west to Kildale. It then flows south-south-west through woodland to the confluence with Dundale Beck where it turns north-west through Low Easby and Little Ayton, before turning west and then south-west at Great Ayton. It runs parallel to the A173 to Stokesley. The river becomes increasingly meandering as it continues south-west past Skutterskelfe to Hutton Rudby and Rudby, where it turns north-west and then west again over Slape Stones waterfall. At Crathorne it turns north and then north-east as far as Middleton-on-Leven before passing under the A19 in a north-west direction. The final couple of miles are north and north-west between Ingleby Barwick and Yarm, before the river joins the River Tees.^[1]

Water levels

• Low and High Water Levels are an average figure.

Geology

The river drains from the Cleveland Hills across a mixed geology of mostly Permian and Jurassic age bedrock of low permeability. Most of the deposits on top of the bedrock are boulder clay. There is mixed agriculture, with some moorland and forestry near the source.^[3]

Natural history

Due to a weir on the lower river built during the Industrial Revolution, migratory and territorial fish and mammals had been missing from the river. In 2007, the Environment Agency built a fish bypass at the weir and in 2011, was able to announce the return of spawning salmon to the river for the first time in 150 years.^[4]

History

In Stokesley, the river is crossed by a 17th-century packhorse bridge, Taylorson's Bridge,^[5] which was once the only crossing into the town.^[6] The Domesday Book records the existence of a water mill on the banks of the river in the town.^[7] In Hutton Rudby there is a plaque on a bridge that marks the spot of a water mill that, amongst several uses, once made sailcloth.^[8]

Lists

Gallery

• 
  Bridge over the Leven at Great Ayton
• 
  Coul Beck joining the River Leven near Rudby
• 
  Leven Bridge over the River Leven at Low Leven
• 
  River Leven, Great Ayton
• 
  River Leven, Low Green, Great Ayton

Sources

• Ordnance Survey Open Viewer
• Google Earth
• National Environment Research Council - Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
• Environment Agency

References