This is a list of rivers of England, organised geographically and taken anti-clockwise around the English coast where the various rivers discharge into the surrounding seas, from the Solway Firth on the Scottish border to the Welsh Dee on the Welsh border, and again from the Wye on the Welsh border anti-clockwise to the Tweed on the Scottish border.
Tributaries are listed down the page in an upstream direction, i.e. the first tributary listed is closest to the sea, and tributaries of tributaries are treated similarly. Thus, in the first catchment below, the River Sark is the lowermost tributary of the Border Esk and the Hether Burn is the lowermost tributary of the River Lyne. The main stem (or principal) river of a catchment is labelled as (MS), left-bank tributaries are indicated by (L), right-bank tributaries by (R). Note that in general usage, the 'left (or right) bank of a river' refers to the left (or right) hand bank, as seen when looking downstream. Where a named river derives from the confluence of two differently named rivers these are labelled as (Ls) and (Rs) for the left and right forks (the rivers on the left and right, relative to an observer facing downstream). A prime example is the River Tyne (MS), the confluence of the South Tyne (Rs) and the North Tyne (Ls) near Hexham. Those few watercourses (mainly in the Thames catchment) which branch off a major channel and then rejoin it or another watercourse further downstream are known as distributaries or anabranches and are labelled (d).
The list will encompass most of the main rivers of England (as defined by the Environment Agency) and which includes those named watercourses for which the Environment Agency has a flood defence function. Many rivers and streams which are not classed as 'main rivers' also appear. Some minor watercourses are included in the list, especially if they are named as 'river'- such examples may be labelled (m).
For simplicity, they are divided here by the coastal sections within which each river system discharges to the sea. In the case of the rivers which straddle the borders with Scotland and Wales, such as the Border Esk, Tweed, Dee, Severn and Wye, only those tributaries which lie at least partly in England are included.
Western (Irish Sea) discharges from north-south
This section includes all rivers entering the Irish Sea from England between the Scottish border and the Welsh border.
Cumbrian coast
All rivers discharging into the Solway Firth, Irish Sea and Morecambe Bay from the Scottish border south to Silverdale on the Cumbria/Lancashire border.
Flowing into the Solway Firth
Border Esk catchment
The lowest reaches of the Esk are in England but most of the river is in Scotland whilst a short section is followed by the England/Scotland border. Tributaries of the Esk which are wholly in Scotland are omitted from this list but may be found at List of rivers of Scotland. River Esk (MS) River Sark (or 'Sark Water') (R) (upper reaches in Scotland, part of river is followed by England/Scotland border) River Lyne (L) Hether Burn (L) Rae Burn (R) Black Lyne (Rs) Bailey Water (R) White Lyne (Ls) Carwinley Burn (L) Liddel Water (L) (part of river is followed by England/Scotland border) Kershope Burn (L) (larger part of river is in Scotland, part of river is followed by England/Scotland border) All further upstream tributaries of the Esk are wholly in Scotland.
Eden catchment
River Eden (MS) River Caldew (L) Little Caldew (L) (Tributary and distributary) River Roe (R) River Ive (Rs) Roe Beck (Ls) Cald Beck (L) Gillcambon Beck (R) Carrock Beck (L) Grainsgill Beck (L) Blackhazel Beck (R) River Petteril (L) River Irthing (R) River Gelt (R) Old Water (R) Cam Beck (R) King Water (R) Gair Burn (Ls) Tarn Beck (Rs) Raven Beck (R) River Eamont (L) River Lowther (R) Haweswater Beck (L) Swindale River (or Swindale Beck) (L) Thacka Beck (L) (Distributary of River Peterill) Dog Beck (known as Myers Beck upstream) (L) Dacre Beck (L) Crowdundle Beck (R) River Lyvennet (L) (known as Lyvennet Beck upstream) River Leith (L) (known as Shap Beck upstream) Hoff Beck (L) Helm Beck (L) Swindale Beck (R) River Belah (R) Argill Beck (R) Scandal Beck (L)
Wampool catchment
River Wampool (MS) Chalk Beck (L)
Minor coastal catchments
River Waver (MS) River Ellen (MS)