River Rivelin

River Rivelin
The river at the site of Walkley Bank Tilt.
Country	England
Basin features
Main source	Pennines
Physical characteristics
Length	8 miles (13 km)

The River Rivelin is a river in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.

It rises on the Hallam moors, in north west Sheffield, and joins the River Loxley (at Malin Bridge). The Rivelin Valley, through which the river flows, is a three and a half mile long woodland valley which includes the popular Rivelin Valley Nature Trail that was created in 1967. The valley has farmland on its gentler upper slopes.

A relatively fast-flowing river (it drops 80 metres between Rivelin Mill Bridge and Malin Bridge), the Rivelin is fed by a constant release of water from the nearby moorland peat. Its flow was exploited for centuries as a power source, driving the water wheels of up to twenty industries (forges, metal-working and flour mills) along its course.

There is evidence of Roman occupation of the area which comes from tablets found on the Stannington side of the Rivelin Valley which record the granting of land to retiring Roman auxiliaries of the Sunuci tribe. Other evidence of Roman occupation comes from finds on Walkley Bank Road, which leads onto the ridge facing Stannington.

In medieval times the Rivelin valley was part of a large tract of land set aside by the Lords of Hallamshire for deer hunting. It was known as Rivelin Chase or Firth and covered thousands of acres on the western upland outskirts of the parish of Sheffield. In 1637 John Harrison after surveying the area declared that the firth had an area of 6,863 acres (2,777 ha). 5,531 acres (2,238 ha) of this was within Sheffield Parish with the rest in the Parish of Bradfield. Until the 20th century the River Rivelin formed the north-western boundary of Sheffield.

The Valley possesses 21 artificially created ponds, testament to the twenty mills which were once present on the river. Though most of the mills and forges no longer exist, the ponds which used to feed them do, thanks to the support of the Rivelin Valley Conservation Group (RVCG) and Yorkshire Water. Some of the more famous mills (from west to east) are as follows:

The mostly westerly site, stands at the foot of Rails Road. This mill dates from 1600 when it was owned by Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. By 1830 there were two waterwheels powering three grinding stones, however problems with the water supply in the summer meant that the mill was often not working at full capacity. The mill continued operating until the 1930s after which the buildings quickly fell into disrepair and were demolished in the early 1950s with a small car parking area now occupying the site. The dam wall was damaged in 1967 by dredging work and eventually collapsed in March 2001. The RVCG and Sheffield Council filled in the pond and created a new one nearby with a pond dipping platform. The official opening was on 17 May 2007.