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River

River Derwent

80 km from source to mouth · United Kingdom.

United KingdomUnited KingdomFlows into River Trent

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouthDerby
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

80km

Average flow

29m³/s

Basin

1,176km²

Drop

176m

from 209 m to 33 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

80 km of river and 40 stops on the way: 10 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

209 m33 m
Peak District National Parkat 209 m0 km
Hathersage2,018 people7 km
Calver Mill16 km
Conduit House Cascade and adjoining statues21 km
River Wyetributary29 km
Matlock14,956 people34 km
Wigwell Aqueduct40 km
Belper Bridge51 km
Belper23,417 people52 km
Derby270,468 people65 km
Chaddesden13,413 people66 km
River Trentat 33 m80 km
020406080 km
  1. 0 kmPeak District National Parkat 209 m
  2. 0 kmSlippery Stones packhorse bridge
  3. 1 kmLadybower Reservoir1.9 km²
  4. 1 kmYorkshire Bridge
  5. 7 kmHathersage2,018 people
  6. 8 kmLeadmill Bridge
  7. 12 kmGrindleford Bridge
  8. 14 kmFroggatt Bridge
  9. 15 kmMasonry Weir To The East Of New Bridge
  10. 16 kmCalver Mill
  11. 16 kmCalver Bridge
  12. 18 kmBaslow Bridge
  13. 18 kmBaslow1,178 people
  14. 21 kmChatsworth Bridge
  15. 21 kmConduit House Cascade and adjoining statues
  16. 23 kmOne Arch Bridge
  17. 26 kmRowsley Bridge
  18. 29 kmRiver Wyetributary
  19. 30 kmDarley Bridge
  20. 34 kmMatlock14,956 people
  21. 34 kmMatlock Bridge
  22. 38 kmCromford2,073 people
  23. 38 kmCromford Bridge
  24. 40 kmWigwell Aqueduct
  25. 43 kmWhatstandwell Bridge
  26. 47 kmHalf Penny Bridge Over The River Derwent
  27. 48 kmDerwent Viaduct
  28. 51 kmBelper Bridge
  29. 52 kmBelper23,417 people
  30. 55 kmMilford Bridge
  31. 57 kmDuffield4,687 people
  32. 57 kmDuffield Bridge
  33. 60 kmLittle Eaton2,060 people
  34. 64 kmHandyside Bridge
  35. 64 kmSt Marys Bridge
  36. 65 kmCathedral Green Footbridge
  37. 65 kmExeter Bridge
  38. 65 kmDerby270,468 people
  39. 66 kmDerwent Bridge
  40. 66 kmChaddesden13,413 people
  41. 73 kmBorrowash5,746 people
  42. 80 kmRiver Trentat 33 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

Principal river of Derbyshire, England

At the mouth it carries 29 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 88 seconds. It drops from 209 m to 33 m, 2.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,176 km², about the size of MQ. 343,000 people live in it. Highest water: from December to January. Its dams hold back little of its water (5.3% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

River Derwent, month by month

Highest water: from December to January

Best months to visit: from June to September.

43
3°61 mmJan
34
4°48 mmFeb
28
6°52 mmMar
22
9°50 mmApr
19
12°54 mmMay
17
15°57 mmJun
14
17°54 mmJul
18
16°62 mmAug
21
14°58 mmSep
25
10°57 mmOct
34
6°62 mmNov
43
4°66 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 14 m³/s in the lowest month to 43 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

River Derwent: the basin in numbers

1,176 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 5.3% of a year's flow.
  • 343,000people live in the basin
  • 291/km²people per km²
  • 244maverage altitude of the basin
  • 927mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 8.8°Caverage air temperature
  • 53%protected areas
  • 0.3%covered by lakes
  • 0.0km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 2% Forest
  • 26% Cropland
  • 34% Pasture
  • 15% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

River Derwent: what you find on the way

  • 4DamsLadybower Reservoir Dam and 3 more
  • 45WeirsCalver New Weir, Bear Pit, Whatstandwell Weir and 42 more
  • 17LocksDerby Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal, Derwent Mouth Lock and 14 more
  • 11WaterfallsLumsdale Falls and 10 more
  • 2Rapids
  • 1Canoe put-insDerwent
  • 2Boat rampsSawley Marina Slipway
  • 1Ferry piersCausey Bridge Riverboat Station
  • 4MarinasShardlow Marina, Chapel Farm Marina, Sawley Marina and 1 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

River Derwent in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas
  • 28mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (1)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Conduit House Cascade and adjoining statueskm 19

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Ladybower Reservoirkm 1 · 41 m deep1.9km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (28)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Peak District9.9 km away636m
  2. Kinder Scout9.9 km away · prominence 497 m636m
  3. Bleaklow3.4 km away633m
  4. Black Hill9.1 km away · prominence 165 m582m
  5. Mam Tor13 km away · prominence 62 m517m
  6. Black Chew Head9.0 km away542m
  7. Grindslow Knoll9.9 km away601m
  8. High Stones6.7 km away548m

20 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

River Derwent: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
River Derwent: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

River Derwent in pictures

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (9)

Also: River Amber, River Noe, River Wye, River Ashop, River Westend, Bentley Brook, Burbage Brook, Markeaton Brook, River Ecclesbourne

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q939664) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesCascadyas, Lakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit