27-774: The River Seph (or River Sep ) is a tributary of the River Rye (itself a tributary of the River Derwent ) in North Yorkshire , England. The river flows for 13 miles (20.5 km) down Bilsdale and meets the Rye near the village of Hawnby . When the surrounding land was owned by Roger de Mowbray , the river was referred to as the Sep . Common club-rush ( Schoenoplectus lacustris ) prefers to grow in shallow water such as that found in ponds, streams and river margins. During
54-587: A melt water channel draining the North York Moors at the end of the ice age and its valley is much more deeply incised than the flow of the present Pickering Beck would suggest. The upland streams of the Rye and its tributaries have powered water mills for centuries. There were three mills at Pickering and others at Kirkby Mills, near Kirkbymoorside. A mill at Bransdale is owned by the National Trust, though not open to visitors. Rievaulx Abbey
81-535: A water source for agriculture, domestic supply, fisheries and leisure pursuits. It also drains the water discharged by wastewater treatment works. There are many sites in the Rye catchment area which have designated status. North York Moors are designated as a Special Protection Area , providing protection to birds, their nests, eggs and habitats and a Special Area of Conservation , contributug to biodiversity by maintaining and restoring habitats and species other than birds. Sites of Special Scientific Interest in
108-579: Is over 980 feet (300 m) in height with the highest point being 1,410 feet (430 m). To the south the tributaries from the valleys converge and the land becomes flatter. It is mainly lower than 330 feet (100 m). To the south-west the Howe Bridge area covers the undulating landscape of the Howardian Hills. The largest abstractions are for fish farming. Wastewater treatment works are at Pickering, Harome and Kirkbymoorside. At source
135-708: The Hodge Beck from Bransdale . Hodge Beck is partly swallowed by the limestone aquifer in Kirkdale and issues again further down the valley. Kirkbymoorside is on the River Dove which, like Hodge Beck has a partly subterranean course. Rosedale sends down the River Seven which comes by Sinnington to join the Rye. The steep-sided Newtondale gives Pickering Beck which joins the Costa Beck before it enters
162-649: The North York Moors National Park Authority were granted Heritage Lottery Funding in 2017 to protect the land and study the wildlife along the upper reaches of the River Rye. This will include the Seph and will look at some of the native species which make use of the watercourse such as the alcathoe bat and the white-clawed crayfish . Bilsdale is a remote valley populated mainly with hamlets as opposed to villages and towns. From
189-795: The Ryedale shire district , which extends southwest into the Vale of Pickering along the River Derwent. The river rises at Rye Head near Snilesworth Lodge on Snilesworth Moor in the Cleveland Hills and collects the River Seph which flows along Bilsdale . It passes Rievaulx Abbey and enters the Vale of Pickering at Helmsley. In its eastward course from Helmsley, the Rye receives the River Dove from Farndale which has previously added
216-499: The last ice age . The same formation also provides the lowermost slopes of the scarp. The full sequence, presented in stratigraphic order , i.e. youngest/uppermost at top is: Most of these formations are various combinations of sandstone , mudstone and siltstone though a couple also contain limestones and the Cleveland Ironstone and Eller Beck formations include ironstone , the former having been exploited for
243-466: The medieval period sedges and rushes were known as " seaves ", hence the origin of the name Seave Green near Chop Gate at the head of Bilsdale . The name Seph derives from Old Norse sef – " sedge, rush ". The meaning for River Seph might be: Examples of rivers that might share a similar etymology : The river starts in Bilsdale at the village of Chop Gate where the waters of
270-454: The 314 metres (1,030 ft) tall Bilsdale transmitting station , providing 40–50 miles coverage of UHF transmissions for digital TV and radio in the north-east's Tyne Tees region. The digital switchover at Bilsdale was completed in two stages, on 12 and 26 September 2012, one of the last transmitters in England to complete this operation, the others being Pontop Pike and Chatton in
297-414: The Bilsdale and Raisdale Becks meet, though some of the sources start on Urra Moor . The river from source to where it meets the River Rye at Seph Mouth, is 13 miles (21 km) long. Historically, parts of the river were the delineating boundaries between ancient parishes. Bilsdale is narrow and densely wooded at the head of the valley, but further down becomes wider and the water meanders before it joins
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#1732783398406324-400: The River Rye and its tributaries run over Corallian limestone which outcrops on the hills surrounding the Vale of Pickering. In places the major aquifer is exposed in the river bed and river water is lost through swallow holes at Kirkdale and Kirkby Mills. Beneath the course of the Rye and its tributaries in the Vale of Pickering lie the lacustrine deposits from the last ice age. Newtondale was
351-491: The River Rye just before its mouth into River Derwent . For management purposes the River Rye is divided into two units, Ness and Howe Bridge. Ness is the upstream area and covers 59,000 acres (240 km ). It covers the River Rye and its tributaries from its source to its confluence with the River Dove near the village of East Ness . The Ness area is mainly rural with dispersed settlements. It has varied topography,
378-434: The Rye. The river has suffered with invasive species such as Himalayan balsam and Japanese Knotweed which have been the subject of various programmes to eradicate them. The river has also benefitted from a government grant to help fish navigation and a reduction in pollution. It was known to be a good trout stream in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, and various agencies came together in 2015 to improve fish passages on
405-473: The area include Farndale ; Cropton Banks and Howlgate Head Woods; Newton Dale; The Ings of Amotherby ; Duncombe Park ; Ashberry and Reins Woods; Rievaulx Woods; Ryedale Windy Pits and North York Moors. Duncombe Park is a National Nature Reserve (NNR), while the Howardian Hills are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . Cleveland Hills The Cleveland Hills are a range of hills on
432-592: The flat Tees Valley to the north, include distinctive landmarks such as the cone-shaped peak of Roseberry Topping , near the village of Great Ayton – childhood home of Captain James Cook . The hills are formed by multiple stacked layers of Jurassic age sedimentary rocks . The scarp rises above the low ground to the north and west formed by the mudstones of the Redcar Mudstone Formation, though largely buried beneath glacial till from
459-691: The hills and dated to the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, indication of an active population in prehistoric times across the region. In 1850 ironstone was discovered by John Marley of Bolckow and Vaughan in the Eston Hills , outliers of the Cleveland Hills, leading to mining on a large scale and the rapid growth of nearby Middlesbrough . By the 1870s industry would be producing steel in vast amounts, and mining for coal, alum , jet , cement stone concretions, shale and potash from
486-401: The hills, as well as employing sandstone and limestone quarries to gather raw materials. Many of the mines and quarries are still evident today. The following heights are some of the highest or most notable in the range. There are numerous towns and villages on, or in the vicinity of, the Cleveland Hills including the following: Bilsdale West Moor, situated in the Cleveland Hills, is home to
513-761: The ironworking industry in former times. The plateau surface is largely formed by the sandstones of the Saltwick and Cloughton formations whilst the summit of Roseberry Topping is an outlier of the Saltwick Formation separated from the main Cleveland Hills range by erosion. The Cleveland Dyke cuts through the hills forming the Langbaurgh Ridge and Cliff Ridge just south of Roseberry Topping where Cliff Rigg Quarry has exploited this Palaeogene age basaltic andesite intrusion for use as roadstone. Glaciofluvial deposits are scattered around
540-530: The main tributaries are the River Riccal , River Dove (with Hodge Beck), River Seven, Costa Beck and Pickering Beck. The market towns of Pickering and Kirkbymoorside are the largest settlements. Otherwise the area is rural with a varied topography. To the north is the upland moorland of the North York moors with the valleys of Bransdale , Farndale , Rosedale and Newtondale. Much of the moorland
567-761: The margins of the hills, notably in Kildale whilst peat has accumulated on the plateau surface in some areas. Landslips are common in the Lias Group rocks along the scarp face in the west and in Raisdale to the south. There are a number of tumuli and stone circles scattered throughout the Cleveland Hills and North York Moors, dating back to the Bronze Age , as well as many cairns that are of varied ages, some of which are relatively modern. Hundreds of flint arrowheads have been discovered during excavations in
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#1732783398406594-492: The north-west edge of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire , England, overlooking Cleveland and Teesside . They lie entirely within the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park . Part of the 110-mile (177 km) long Cleveland Way National Trail runs along the hills, and they are also crossed by a section of Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk . The hills, which rise abruptly from
621-555: The northern part is dominated by upland moors which are over 660 feet (200 m) in height in the North York Moors National Park. Here the land use is largely managed grassland. Downstream, as the river approaches Rievaulx and Helmsley the land is around 330 feet (100 m) in height and falls to 160 feet (49 m) at East Ness . In the lower part, land use is a mixture of managed grassland and arable farming with pockets of forestry and woodland close to
648-444: The river. Abstraction from the river is mainly to supply a fish farm at Harome and this water is returned to the river. Wastewater treatment works have been built at Helmsley and Sproxton. The ecology and fisheries are highly sensitive to changers in water flow. The Howe Bridge area covers 152,000 acres (620 km ). It covers the River Rye from East Ness to its confluence with the River Derwent just beyond Howe Bridge. In this area
675-577: The source of the Seph downstream, these are; River Rye, Yorkshire The River Rye in the English county of North Yorkshire rises just south of the Cleveland Hills , east of Osmotherley , and flows through Hawnby , Rievaulx , Helmsley , Nunnington , West and East Ness , Butterwick , Brawby , and Ryton , before joining the River Derwent at 54°10′N 00°44′W / 54.167°N 0.733°W / 54.167; -0.733 near Malton . The river valley ( dale ) gave its name to
702-404: The watercourse to allow the migration of trout from the River Rye. The river flows across the south western edge of the North York Moors and as such has limestone, gritstone, mudstone and siltstone as its bedrock. During dry summers, the waters disappear into the bedrock and the river becomes totally subterranean. The sides of Bilsdale where the Seph meanders, are lined with ancient Oak trees and
729-526: Was established on the banks of the Rye on land given by Walter l'Espec of Helmsley and took its name from a literal translation of Rye Valley from the French. The monks of Rievaulx diverted the river away from the abbey buildings. On the Costa Beck south of Pickering traces of a prehistoric settlement were excavated in the late-19th century. The main economic value of the River Rye lies in its use as
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