River Bollin Explained

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.

Tributaries

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bollin (Source to Dean) . Catchment Data Explorer . Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs . 12 February 2024.
  2. Web site: Bollin (River Dean to Ashley Mill) Water Body. Catchment Data Explorer . Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs . 12 February 2024.
  3. Web site: Bollin (Ashley Mill to Manchester Ship Canal) Water Body . Catchment Data Explorer . Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs . 12 February 2024.
  4. Web site: Historical Ordnance Survey and OpenStreetMap mapping of the mouth of the Bollin . National Library of Scotland . 9 July 2024.