River Bollin

The River Bollin is a major tributary of the River Mersey in the north-west of England.

It rises in Macclesfield Forest at the western end of the Peak District, from springs near the Buxton to Macclesfield road. The stream descends the 10 mi through Macclesfield and The Carrs Park in Wilmslow, where it has a confluence with the River Dean, near Styal Prison. It flows through the Styal country park and was used in the cotton calico factory there, Quarry Bank Mill, as a source of power. Near the Quarry Bank Mill site there is a natural weir. The Bollin is culverted underneath the southern runway of Manchester Airport. For its final 10 mi it defines the southwestern portion of the border between Greater Manchester and Cheshire before merging with the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at Rixton Junction just north of Lymm.

The town of Macclesfield used to dispose all its waste and sewage into the Bollin. The profusion of human sewage in the Bollin was still common in 1850.

Tributaries

 * Agden Brook (L)
 * Millington Clough
 * Birkin Brook (L)
 * Blackburn's Brook (L)
 * Shawgreen Brook (L)
 * Rostherne Brook
 * Mopperley Brook (R)
 * Mobberley Brook
 * Swim Brook (R)
 * Whim Brook (R)
 * Whitehall Brook (R)
 * Pott Brook (R)
 * Sugar Brook (R)
 * Tatton Mere brook (L)
 * Pedley Brook (R)
 * Marthall Brook