| River Bollin | |
| Map: | River Bollin catchment area.png |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | England |
| Subdivision Type3: | Counties |
| Subdivision Name3: | Cheshire, Greater Manchester |
| Length: | 49km (30miles) |
| Source1 Location: | Macclesfield Forest, Cheshire |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 53.2418°N -2.0397°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 300m (1,000feet) |
| Mouth: | Manchester Ship Canal |
| Mouth Location: | Warburton, Greater Manchester |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 53.3961°N -2.4786°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 11m (36feet) |
| Tributaries Right: | River Dean |
The River Bollin is a major tributary of the River Mersey in the north-west of England.[1] [2] [3]
It rises in Macclesfield Forest at the western end of the Peak District, from springs near the Buxton to Macclesfield road. The stream descends the 10miles through Macclesfield and The Carrs Park in Wilmslow, where it has a confluence with the River Dean, near Styal Prison. It flows through the Styal country park and was used in the cotton calico factory there, Quarry Bank Mill, as a source of power. Near the Quarry Bank Mill site there is a natural weir. The Bollin is culverted underneath the southern runway of Manchester Airport. For its final 10miles it defines the southwestern portion of the border between Greater Manchester and Cheshire before merging with the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at Rixton Junction just north of Lymm.[4]
The town of Macclesfield used to dispose all its waste and sewage into the Bollin. The profusion of human sewage in the Bollin was still common in 1850.