River Roch

Updated on Nov 25, 2024

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- location Chelburn Moor Country United Kingdom		Mouth River Irwell

- left Tack Lee Brook, Naden Brook, River Spodden, Hey Brook, Ash Brook, Featherstall Brook, Town House Brook - right Parr Brook, Hollins Brook, Wrigley Brook, Millers Brook, Sudden Brook, Moss Brook, Stanney Brook, River Beal, Ealees Brook, Greenvale Brook, Chelburn Brook - location River Irwell, Radcliffe

River roch in rochdale town centre

The River Roch /ˈroʊtʃ/ is a river in Greater Manchester in North West England, a tributary of the River Irwell that gives Rochdale its name.

Map of River Roch, United Kingdom

Stunt 1 river roch rochdale uk

CourseEdit

Rising on Chelburn Moor (south of Todmorden in the Pennines), the river flows south through Littleborough towards Rochdale where it is joined by the River Beal at Belfield, and the River Spodden from Whitworth. Turning west it runs past Heywood and Bury before meeting the River Irwell just to the east of Radcliffe.

HistoryEdit

The Domesday Book records the name of Rochdale as Recedham, formed from Old English reced "hall", and ham "homestead". The name of the river is a back-formation from this Old English name. With time, the town's name changed to Rachedale and eventually Rochdale. The name of the river Roch is /ˈroʊtʃ/, with a long o. The name of the town, however, is pronounced /ˈrɒtʃdeɪl/, with a short o.

The river has been culverted in Rochdale town centre since the early 20th century. This was built by the joining together of seven bridges to form one large bridge, making it one of the widest bridges in the world. Maintenance work was carried out on the bridge in the 1990s and the river was uncovered temporarily. In 2015 work began on opening the bridge again in a multi million pound project. On Boxing Day 2015, following heavy rain, the Roch burst its banks causing flooding in the town centre.