River Trent

The River Trent begins in the Staffordshire Moorlands near Biddulph Moor and flows south-east for 248 kilometres to the Humber Estuary. It drains much of the North Midlands, passing through towns like Stoke-on-Trent, Burton-upon-Trent and Nottingham. The river is famous for its dramatic floods after storms and spring snowmelt, which have changed its course many times. In the past, these floods were so severe that the river sometimes shifted its entire channel. Old maps show abandoned loops near Repton and Hemington, where archaeologists have found remains of medieval bridges. The Trent’s name may come from a Romano-British word meaning ‘strongly flooding’ or ‘great thoroughfare’. It passes landmarks such as Trentham Gardens, the 16th-century Essex Bridge at Great Haywood and the ornate 19th-century Ferry Bridge in Burton. Near Burton it is joined by the River Dove, and at Shardlow it meets the Trent and Mersey Canal. The river then flows past Nottingham, where it passes beneath Trent Bridge beside Nottingham Forest’s football ground. Downstream it reaches Newark-on-Trent, where it passes beneath the town’s castle walls. Visitors can walk along landscaped parkland at Trentham Gardens or cross the historic Essex Bridge. In Burton the river is lined with warehouses once used by inland ports, now restored for modern use. Near Gainsborough the river frontage shows old warehouses, and villages like Owston Ferry and East Ferry still bear names from their days as ferry crossings. At Trent Falls the Trent joins the Ouse to form the wide Humber Estuary, marking the traditional boundary between the Midlands and Northern England.