The River Don (in some sections also the River Dun) is a river in the county of South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. It rises in the Pennines west of Dunford Bridge and flows 70 miles (113 km).
It originally joined the River Trent, but was converted to a Dutch river by Cornelius Vermuyden in the 1620s and now joins the River Ouse at Goole. Don Valley is a British parliamentary constituency near the Doncaster section of the river.
Etymology
Probable origin of the name is the Brittonic Dānā, from the root dān-, meaning „water“ or „river“. The name Dôn, the Celtic mother goddess, has the same origin.
The river gave its name to the Don River, one of the main rivers of Toronto, Canada.
Geography
The Don can be divided into sections based on the different types of structures that restrict its passage. The upper reaches and several of its tributaries are defined by dams built to supply water to the population. In the middle section there are many weirs that were built to supply water power to mills, foundries and factories. In the lower section there are weirs and locks designed to maintain the water level for navigation. The main tributaries of the Don are the Loxley, Rivelin, Sheaf, Rother and Dearne.
History of the River Don
Below Doncaster, the main channel of the lower Don originally turned north-eastwards across the Hatfield Chase marshes and emptied into the Trent just above its confluence with the Ouse. Other channel flowed northwards, along the Roman canal called Turnbridgedike and eastern channel formed the boundary between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
The water quality of the River Don
The Environment Agency measures the water quality of river systems in England. Each is assigned an overall ecological status, which can have one of five levels. Several components are used to determine this status, including biological status, which looks at the amount and types of invertebrates, lampreys and fish. Chemical status, which compares concentrations of various chemicals to known safe concentrations, is rated as good or poor.
