River Lune | |
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Country | England |
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Counties | Cumbria, Lancashire |
Source | |
- location | Wath, Ravenstonedale, Cumbria |
- elevation | 238 m (781 ft) |
Mouth | |
- location | Plover Scar, Lancaster, Lancashire |
- coordinates | 53°59′6″N 2°52′39″W / 53.98500°N 2.87750°WCoordinates: 53°59′6″N 2°52′39″W / 53.98500°N 2.87750°W |
Length | 85.6 km (53 mi) |
The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river of 53 miles (85 km) length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England.
The river begins as a stream at Newbiggin, in the parish of Ravenstonedale, Cumbria, at St. Helen's Well (elevation of 238 metres above sea level) and some neighbouring springs. On the first two miles of its course, it is joined by four streams, two of them as short as itself, but two ones much longer. These are the Bessy Beck (short), the Dry Beck of 4.9 km (three miles) length at 0.32 miles from St. Helen's Well, the Sandwath Beck (short) at 0.37 miles, and the Weasdale Beck (5.58 km = 3½ mls) at 1.6 miles from the well. Weasdale Beck is the uppermost headwater of River Lune recorded in Environment Agency's Catchment Data Explorer.
It then passes the remnants of a Roman fort near Low Borrowbridge at the foot of Borrowdale, and flows through south Cumbria, meeting the Irish Sea at Plover Scar near Lancaster, after a total journey of about 53 miles (85.6 km).
The valley of the Lune has three parts. The northern part between its source and Tebay is called Lunesdale. Below this is the spectacular Lune Gorge through which both the M6 motorway and the West Coast Main Railway Line run. Below the gorge, the valley broadens out into Lonsdale.
Bridges over the Lune include the Devil's Bridge near Kirkby Lonsdale and the Lune Millennium Bridge in Lancaster. At Caton, about 5 miles (8 km) upstream from Lancaster, there is a cluster of three bridges (one stone road bridge and two disused iron rail bridges now used as foot/cyclepaths) at the Crook o' Lune. Here in a 180-degree right-hand bend the Lune turns back on itself; this is followed by a 90-degree left-hand bend forming the shape of a shepherd's crook and creating a beauty spot which was painted by J. M. W. Turner.