| River Roch | |
|---|---|
 Flowing in front ofRochdale Interchange andNumber One Riverside | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| District | Littleborough,Rochdale,Heywood,Bury |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Chelburn Moor |
| Mouth | |
• location | River Irwell,Radcliffe |
• coordinates | 53°33′43.95″N2°18′2.65″W / 53.5622083°N 2.3007361°W /53.5622083; -2.3007361 |
| Length | 100 miles |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • 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 |
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TheRiver Roch/ˈroʊtʃ/ is ariver inGreater Manchester inNorth West England, atributary of theRiver Irwell.
Rising on Chelburn Moor (south ofTodmorden in thePennines), the river flows south throughLittleborough towardsRochdale where it is joined by theRiver Beal atBelfield, and theRiver Spodden fromWhitworth. Turning west it runs pastHeywood andBury before meeting theRiver Irwell at Springwater Park, located just to the east ofRadcliffe.
The town ofRochdale is recorded asRecedham in theDomesday Book andRachetham in 1193, with variations ofRechedham continuing into the thirteenth century.[1][2] It is thought that these names represent a pre-existingBrittonic name for the river Roch, borrowed intoOld English for the name of the settlement.
The early forms ofRachet-ham andReched-ham suggest a compound of two elements,ro-ced orro-cet. The first element is either from the common intensive prefixrö- (Modern Welshrhy-,Cornish re-) meaning "great" and found in otherriver names such as theRibble and theRother[3] orrag-, (Modern Welshar-) meaning "opposite" or "adjacent to".[4] The second element would then almost certainly becę:d orcet, (Modern Welshcoed) meaning "wood".[5] This would give the name a meaning of "River of the great wood" or "River opposite the wood".
Another etymology focused on the early forms similarities toRheged, theCumbric-speaking kingdom in North West England during theMiddle Ages.[6][7] Although this etymology is used to support the theory that the Roch may have been the centre of a separate kingdom known inMedieval Welsh literature as "South Rheged" or "Argoed" (opposite the wood), it remains unproven as the kingdom of Rheged's boundaries have not been identified.[8] A further suggestion is that the name "rheged" simply means "area" in the Cumbric language (related toRegio inLatin andRegion inModern English) and that the kingdom of Rheged and the river merely shared a common Celtic name.
Although Rochdale is pronounced/ˈrɒtʃdeɪl/ (with a shortero sound), the name of the river is still pronounced/roʊtʃ/ (with a long vowel sound).
The river has beenculverted inRochdale 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.[9] In 2015 work began on opening the bridge again in a multimillion-pound project.[10] On Boxing Day 2015, following heavy rain, the Roch burst its banks causing flooding in the town centre.[11]
Moving upstream from the Irwellconfluence, the tributaries include the following:
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Next confluence upstream | River Irwell | Next confluence downstream |
| Woodhill / Kirklees Brook (West) | River Roch | River Croal (West) |