Course

The source of the river is on the slopes of Great Hill

Great Hill

Great Hill is a hill in Lancashire on Anglezarke Moor, between the towns of Chorley and Darwen. It is part of the West Pennine Moors and lies approximately 3 miles north of Winter Hill, which is the highest point in the area at 456 m ....

, just above the ruins known as Pimm's, where the infant river is known as Calf Hey Brook. Calf Hey Brook is joined by another stream occasionally termed Roddlesworth - which rises beneath Cartridge Hill and runs past the ruins of Hollinshead Hall

Hollinshead Hall

Hollinshead Hall was a manor house close to the village of Tockholes, Lancashire. It is unclear as to whether the hall was originally the manor house of Tockholes or if Hollinshead was indeed a manor in its own right alongside Tockholes and Livesey...

- beneath Slipper Lowe.

From there, it follows a northerly course through Roddlesworth Plantations, around the two Reservoirs fed by the river and past Red Lees. The river continues through the Stanworth Valley in Livesey

Livesey

Livesey is a civil parish in the unitary borough of Blackburn with Darwen, in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England.Lying to the south west of Blackburn, Livesey contains most of the suburb of Cherry Tree, including its railway station and the majority of the village of Feniscowles...

, where it is met by Stockclough Brook, and under the M65 motorway

M65 motorway

The M65 is a motorway in Lancashire, England. It runs from just south of Preston through the major junction of the M6 and M61 motorways, east past Darwen, Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Nelson and ends at Colne.-History:...

 and Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
Stanworth Valley was the location for some of the No M65 Road Protest camps . This was the site of a 5 day eviction in 1995, between environmentalists and road builders. At stake was the ecologically valuable river system and diverse woodland.
M65 motorway archive
Soon after this, the Roddlesworth enters a culvert close to the Star Paper Mill.

The Roddlesworth flows into the River Darwen

River Darwen

The River Darwen is a river running through Darwen and Blackburn in Lancashire.The river was seriously polluted with human and industrial effluent during the Industrial Revolution, up to the early 1970s. The river often changed colour dramatically as a result of paper and paint mills routinely...

 at Moulden Brow. Between the confluence with Stockclough Brook and the Darwen, the river is known locally as Moulden (or Moulding) Water.

For virtually its entire course, the Roddlesworth marks the boundary between Chorley Borough

Chorley (borough)

Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley.-Creation:...

 and the unitary authority

Unitary authority

A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

 of Blackburn with Darwen

Blackburn with Darwen

Blackburn with Darwen is a unitary authority area in Lancashire, North West England. It consists of Blackburn, the small town of Darwen to the south of it, and the surrounding countryside.-Formation:...

.

This border was preceded by that between the Hundreds

Hundred (division)

A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...

 of Blackburn and Leyland

Leyland (hundred)

The Leyland hundred, or Leylandshire, was a hundred of the English county of Lancashire. It covered the parishes of Brindle, Chorley, Croston, Eccleston, Hoole, Leyland, Penwortham, Rufford, Standish and Tarleton....

.

The river also demarcated the eastern edge of the region of Gunolfesmores in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 and, later, the Manor

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 of Hoghton

Hoghton Tower

Hoghton Tower is fortified manor house near the village of Hoghton in the Borough of Chorley to the east of Preston in Lancashire, England. It has been the ancestral home of the De Hoghton family since the time of William the Conqueror. It features a mile long driveway to the main gates...

.

The name is first recorded in about 1160 as Rodtholfeswrtha, suggesting a derivation meaning "the homestead of Hrothwulf".

Settlements

The Roddlesworth runs through a wooded valley

Valley

In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

 close to the settlements of Tockholes

Tockholes

Tockholes is a village and civil parish which forms part of the Blackburn with Darwen unitary authority in the North west of England. Tockholes consists of the village of Tockholes itself and the Hamlet of Ryal Fold, and has a population of 454...

, Roddlesworth

Roddlesworth

Roddlesworth is the name of a hamlet in the parish of Withnell in Lancashire, England. It lies on the road connecting Preston with Bolton.The name is first encountered as Rodtholfeswrtha , meaning "the homestead of Hrothwulf"....

, Abbey Village

Abbey Village

Abbey Village is a village in the English county of Lancashire and the constituency of Chorley. It is located on the A675 road, six miles from Blackburn, eight miles from Chorley, nine miles from Preston and ten miles from Bolton....

 and Stanworth before joining the River Darwen close to Feniscowles

Feniscowles

Feniscowles is a village in the unitary authority of Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, England. It is situated approximately west of Blackburn...

.

Reservoirs

• Abbey Village Reservoir
  Abbey Village Reservoir
  The reservoir north of Abbey Village on the River Roddlesworth - name unknown - is the latest addition to the reservoirs around this small Lancashire village, designed to increase water storage capacity in wet years....
  
  
• Lower Roddlesworth Reservoir
  Lower Roddlesworth Reservoir
  Lower Roddlesworth Reservoir is a reservoir on the River Roddlesworth close to Abbey Village in Lancashire.The reservoir is close to Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir and Rake Brook Reservoir, situated within thick forest....
  
  
• Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir
  Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir
  Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir is a reservoir on the River Roddlesworth near Abbey Village in Lancashire.The reservoir is close to Lower Roddlesworth Reservoir and Rake Brook Reservoir and sits within dense woodland....
  
  
• Rake Brook Reservoir
  Rake Brook Reservoir
  Rake Brook Reservoir is a reservoir fed by two streams, including the eponymous Rake Brook, a tributary of the River Roddlesworth in Lancashire.The reservoir is adjacent to the two Roddlesworth Reservoirs....
  
   is fed by Rake Brook close to its confluence
  Confluence
  Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
  
   with the Roddlesworth.

Tributaries

Finnington Brook joins close to where the Roddlesworth itself falls into the River Darwen. Rising from the confluence of several small brooks, draining Riley Green

Riley Green

Riley Green is a hamlet in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. It is located at the junction of the A675 and A6061 roads, between Preston, Blackburn and Chorley. The hamlet consists of a small number of houses and two pubs - the Royal Oak on the A6061, and the Boatyard on the A675 beside...

, Marsh View and Brimmicroft, which meet close to Riley Green Bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Leeds and Liverpool Canal

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...

, the brook runs eastward in a small, wooded valley below the canal. The river flows by the hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

 of Finnington, picking up other streams heading north from Stanworth, running by a hatchery

Hatchery

A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish or poultry. It may be used for ex-situ conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled conditions; alternatively, it may be for economic reasons A hatchery is a...

 and through a reservoir, joining the Roddlesworth on the south side of Moulden Water Bridge.

Stockclough Brook flows into the Roddlesworth in the Stanworth Valley, opposite the site of what was probably once a small mill

Watermill

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...

. The brook rises close to Potter's and flows west and south west, skirting by Lower Whitehalgh Farm before passing beneath Stockclough Lane and the M65 Motorway. Whitehalgh Brook joins near stepping stones in Owlet Holes Wood before Stockclough Brook flows beneath the Stockclough Viaduct, over which the former railway between Cherry Tree and Chorley once ran, before joining the Roddlesworth. Whitehalgh Brook itself rises in Adam Plat Wood where three brooks from Tockholes

Tockholes

Tockholes is a village and civil parish which forms part of the Blackburn with Darwen unitary authority in the North west of England. Tockholes consists of the village of Tockholes itself and the Hamlet of Ryal Fold, and has a population of 454...

combine. Sheep Bridge Brook rises near Tithe Barn Cottages and flows northwest towards Yew Tree Farm, before moving southwest through Hole Bottom Wood, where it flows beneath the bridge that gives the stream its name. It meets Chapels Brook, flowing northwest from Close Farm and Weasel Farm in Tockholes, following Rock Lane to Chapels Farm, after which it moves past Pickering Fold and through Heald Wood. Shaw Brook joins at the western end of Adam Plat Wood, having run west and north from its source on Green Hill, via Golden Soney Farm and Lower Hill, past Higher Crow Trees Farm and Lower Crow Trees Farm passing through a wooded vale to its confluence with Whitehalgh Brook.

Rake Brook rises at Brown Hill on Withnell

Withnell

Withnell is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 3,631. Withnell is about five miles north-east of Chorley itself and about away from Blackburn. It constituted an urban district from 1894 to 1974...

 Moor and flows northward, draining the west side of Cold Within Hill before pouring through Birch Clough, separating Twist Moor and Roddlesworth Moor and feeding Rake Brook Reservoir, formerly populated by Rake Wood. The confluence of Rake Brook and the River Roddlesworth is in Benson's Wood, just after the end of the overflow from the Roddlesworth Reservoirs.
Rake Brook Reservoir is also fed by another stream rising on Withnell Moor. This unnamed brook flows north, separating Withnell Moor from Wheelton

Wheelton

Wheelton is a small village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 it has a population of 1,001...

 Moor (as well as the two civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

es) before passing the ruins of New Temple (just south of Solomon's Temple), Summer House (formerly known as Botany Bay) and Pope's, running east of Millstone Edge, before meeting Rake Brook.