River Coquet

The River Coquet flows through Northumberland from its source in the Cheviot Hills to the North Sea at Amble. It winds through Coquetdale, passing military ranges and small villages before reaching Rothbury, where a listed bridge crosses it. Below Rothbury stands Thrum Mill, a three-storey water mill restored on television. The river has powered mills since the 13th century, some grinding corn, others fulling wool or driving early industry. John Smeaton built a horseshoe dam at Brainshaugh in 1775 to run an iron works, later a woollen mill and one of the first hydroelectric sites. Warkworth Castle stands on a loop of the tidal lower river, which supplies drinking water to thousands. Walkers find quiet paths beside the upper Coquet, where 20th-century bridges span deep gorges. At Holystone the river passes a Roman-era holy well linked to Bishop Paulinus. Below Rothbury the river widens through meadows past Thrum Mill, while the lower reaches lead to Warkworth Harbour and its lifeboat station.