River Wye, Derbyshire

River Wye
River Wye in Buxton
Confluence with Derwent in Derbyshire
Location
Country	England
Counties	Derbyshire
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Axe Edge Moor, Derbyshire
Mouth	Confluence with the Derwent
• location	Rowsley, Derbyshire
• coordinates	53°11′08″N 01°36′46″W / 53.18556°N 1.61278°W / 53.18556; -1.61278
Length	38.4 km (23.9 mi)
Basin size	277 km2 (107 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Ashford (grid reference SK 182 696)[1]
• average	3.23 m3/s (114 cu ft/s)[1]
• maximum	44.3 m3/s (1,560 cu ft/s)[2]
Basin features
Tributaries
• right	River Lathkill
Progression : Wye—Derwent—Trent—Humber—North Sea

v t e River Wye, Derbyshire
Legend
Wye source on Axe Edge Moor Underground through Poole's Cavern Wye Head Buxton Pavilion Gardens Culvert under Central Buxton Buxton railway station Ashbourne line to Dowlow Works Buxton line railway Hogshaw Brook Nun Brook Tunstead Quarry railway line Site of Fairfield Mill Ashwood Dale Dale End sawmill Deep Dale Wye Dale Great Rocks Dale Chee Dale and Monsal Trail Topley Pike chord (disused) Chee Dale railway bridge Railway Viaduct, Blackwell Blackwell Dale  B6049  bridge Miller's Dale The Mill, Wormhill Millers Dale Viaduct Site of Tideswell Mill, Litton Monk's Dale Litton Mill weir in Water-cum-Jolly Dale Cressbrook Mill, Litton Cressbrook Dale Monsal Dale Monsal Head Viaduct A6 road bridge Ashford Bobbin Mill, Sheldon Site of Black Marble Mill A6 road bridge Site of Batch Mill A6020 bridge Ashford-in-the-Water Ashford Mill Lumford Mill Holme Bridge, Bakewell Victoria Mill, Bakewell A619 at Bakewell Rutland Works, Bakewell A6 road bridge River Lathkill Caudwell's Mill Peaktor Lane Rowsley Wye mouth into the River Derwent

The River Wye is a limestone river in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England. It is 23.9 miles (38.5 km) long, although it is widely quoted as being 15 miles (24 km) long, which refers to the section within the National Park. It is one of the major tributaries of the River Derwent, which flows into the River Trent, and ultimately into the Humber and the North Sea.

The river rises just west of Buxton, on Axe Edge Moor, and the flow is augmented by water which passes underground through Poole's Cavern before rising at Wye Head.^[3] The two sources join as they cross the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton. The river then flows east through the dales of the Wye Valley, along a route roughly followed by the A6 road. It enters the Peak District, flows just south of Tideswell, then through Ashford in the Water and Bakewell, passing to the south of Haddon Hall, before meeting the River Derwent at Rowsley. The main tributary of the river is the River Lathkill, which enters approximately one mile from its mouth.

The River Wye is one of Derbyshire's best-known rivers and is popular with anglers because of the large numbers of wild brown, rainbow trout and grayling it contains. The alkalinity of the Wye provides a rich source of nutrients that leads to an abundance of insects, invertebrates and other wildlife. This ensures that the trout and grayling grow quickly on a diet of freshwater shrimp, caddisfly (also known as sedge-flies) and mayfly.

It is possible to walk alongside much of the length of the river,^{[citation needed]} mostly following a former railway line, part of which is now the Monsal Trail and provides views of the river. In Monsal Dale the former railway line emerges from a tunnel at Monsal Head, over a viaduct high above the river below. When this structure was built John Ruskin was enraged, and spoke of the Gods being banished by a scheme intended to convey "every Buxton fool to Bakewell in half an hour" and vice versa, "and you call this lucrative exchange—you fools everywhere".^[4] The railway is now closed, but the viaduct is itself a listed structure.^[5]