Cock Beck

{{Infobox river

| name = Cock Beck

| name_other = River Cock

| name_etymology =

| nickname =

| image = Aberford Bridge over Cock Beck, Aberford 31 May 2017.jpg

| image_size =

| image_caption = Bridge over the Cock Beck, Aberford

| image_alt =

| map =

| map_size =

| map_caption =

| map_alt =

| pushpin_map = North Yorkshire

| pushpin_map_size =

| pushpin_map_caption= Position of river mouth

| pushpin_map_alt =

| subdivision_type1 =

| subdivision_name1 =

| subdivision_type2 =

| subdivision_name2 =

| subdivision_type3 =

| subdivision_name3 =

| subdivision_type4 =

| subdivision_name4 =

| subdivision_type5 =

| subdivision_name5 =

| length = {{convert|41|km|order=flip}}

| width_min =

| width_avg =

| width_max =

| depth_min =

| depth_avg =

| depth_max =

| discharge1_location=

| discharge1_min =

| discharge1_avg =

| discharge1_max =

| source1 =

| source1_location =

| source1_coordinates= {{Coord|53.834|-1.450}}

| source1_elevation =

| mouth =

| mouth_location =

| mouth_coordinates = {{Coord|53.874|-1.252|display=inline,title}}

| mouth_elevation =

| progression =

| river_system =

| basin_size = {{convert|71|km2|order=flip}}

| basin_landmarks =

| basin_population =

| tributaries_left =

| tributaries_right =

| waterbodies =

| waterfalls =

| bridges =

| ports =

| custom_label = EA waterbody ID

| custom_data = {{URL|https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB104027063940|GB104027063940}}

}}

Cock Beck is a stream in the outlying areas of eastern Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which runs from its source due to a runoff north-west of Whinmoor, skirting east of Swarcliffe and Manston (where a public house has been named 'The Cock Beck'), past Pendas Fields, Scholes, Barwick-in-Elmet, Aberford, Towton, Stutton, and Tadcaster, where it flows into the River Wharfe.

It is a tributary of the River Wharfe, formerly known as the River Cock or Cock River,{{cite book |last=Langdale |first=Thomas |year=1822 |title=A Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire |url=https://archive.org/details/atopographicald01langgoog|edition=2nd|publisher=J. Langdale |page=[https://archive.org/details/atopographicald01langgoog/page/n228 211] }}{{cite book |last=Armfield |first=H. M. |year=2011 |title= A History of Aberford |edition=2nd|publisher=available from St Ricarius Church, Aberford |page=2 }} having a much larger flow in the past than it does today. The name 'cock' may refer to a mature salmon, as it was a spawning ground for salmon and trout.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2586859.stm |work=BBC News |date= 18 December 2002|title= River cleared for returning salmon|access-date=24 October 2014}} Industrial pollution reduced the fish stock, but it has been recovering in the 21st century, aided by work from the Environment Agency. In places the beck was relatively narrow, but too deep to cross unaided; a feature which can still be seen today at many points.

History

The Great North Road crossing at Aberford was first a Celtic trackway and later a Roman road. It is defended on the north side by 4.5 miles of Iron Age fortifications known as the Aberford Dykes which run from a hill fort at Barwick-in-Elmet, through Aberford and a mile east, consisting of a ditch and ridge.{{cite web |title=Aberford Dykes |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1035019&resourceID=19191 |website=heritagegateway.org.uk |access-date=27 June 2023}} It is believed that this was a defensive construction of the Brigantes against southern tribes and the Romans.Leslie Alcock (1954) Antiquity Volume 28, Issue 111 September 1954, pp. 147-154 "Aberford Dykes: the first the Brigantes? The river may have been engineered to increase the barrier.

Cock Beck is identified as a likely site of the Battle of the Winwaed on 15 November 655, a decisive victory of Oswiu of Bernicia over King Penda of Mercia.{{sfn|Campbell|1995|p=8}}

The beck is thought to be the one after which Becca Hall, whose name is first attested, as Becca, in 1189, is named.Harry Parkin, Your City's Place-Names: Leeds, English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 2017), p. 22.

In the aftermath of the 1461 Battle of Towton remnants of the Lancastrian forces fleeing the victorious Yorkists were forced to try to cross the Cock Beck, having already disposed of most of their arms.Towton Battlefield Society (2007) Battle of Towton Map and Guide (3rd ed) Many drowned in the Beck, and soon the survivors were reported to be crossing the Cock Beck on bridges of their fallen comrades.{{cite book |last1=Barrett |first1=C. R. B. |title=Battles and battlefields in England |date=1896 |publisher=Innes & Co |location=London |page=161|oclc=64414883}} The Cock Beck is now the limit of the heritage protected battlefield site in the Saxton and Towton areas.{{cite news |title=Battle of Towton protection extended by Historic England |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-40482439 |access-date=27 June 2023 |work=BBC News |date=3 July 2017}}

During the English Civil War, the Royalists defeated the Parliamentarians under Sir Thomas Fairfax at the Battle of Seacroft Moor in 1643. The ensuing massacre of the Parliamentarians is said to have been of such magnitude that the beck ran crimson with blood.{{cite web|url=http://www.oldtykes.co.uk/medbatt.htm#Towton%201461%60|title=Mediaeval Battles within the boundaries of Elmet|access-date=24 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204132000/http://oldtykes.co.uk/medbatt.htm|archive-date=4 February 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://www.yorkshirehistory.com/towton/towton4.htm|title=The Battle of Towton 1461|access-date=24 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012104941/http://www.yorkshirehistory.com/towton/towton4.htm|archive-date=12 October 2009}}

John Ogilby's 1675 map indicates the major crossing for the Cock was sited along the Tadcaster-Ferrybridge road, however this crossing has no bridge and the steep descent and ascent on either side led to it being abandoned for a new cut, which crosses the Cock Beck further east near its mouth with the River Wharfe.{{cite journal |last1=Ransome |first1=Cyril |editor1-last=Mandell |editor1-first=Creighton |title=The Battle of Towton |journal=The English Historical Review |date=July 1889 |issue=XV |page=464 |publisher=Longmans Green & Co |oclc=224451723}}{{cite web |title=Georeferenced Maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland |url=https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15.1&lat=53.85558&lon=-1.26909&layers=168&b=1 |website=maps.nls.uk |access-date=27 June 2023 |quote=Map showing old route to the north-west, and the newer route due north}}

Hydrology

File:Cock Beck.JPG

The beck flows from west to east across West and North Yorkshire for {{convert|41|km|order=flip}}, draining an area of {{convert|71|km2}}.{{cite web |title=Cock Beck Catchment (trib of Wharfe) {{!}} Catchment Data Explorer {{!}} Catchment Data Explorer |url=https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB104027063940 |website=environment.data.gov.uk |access-date=27 June 2023}} It is one of the major tributaries of the River Wharfe, and is one of the last major watercourses to enter the Wharfe before it itself enters the Ouse.{{cite web |title=The Nidd and Wharfe Catchment |url=http://www.environmentdata.org/archive/ealit:1290/OBJ/19001141.pdf |website=environmentdata.org |publisher=Environment Agency |page=1|access-date=27 June 2023}} The Cock Beck Sluices control the flow of water upstream from the Wharfe into Cock Beck when the Wharfe is in flood. When the water reaches a flooding mark or more than {{convert|8.4|m|order=flip}}, then the beck backflows upstream to Stutton.{{cite web |title=Flooding |url=http://www.stuttonpc.org.uk/local-information/flooding/ |website=stuttonpc.org.uk |access-date=27 June 2023}}{{cite web |title=River Wharfe level at Cock Beck Sluices - GOV.UK |url=https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/station/8050 |website=check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk |access-date=27 June 2023}}

References

= Sources =

{{cite book |first=James |last=Campbell |title=Essays in Anglo-Saxon History|publisher=Hambledon Continuum |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-907628-33-0}}

Category:Rivers of Leeds

Category:Rivers of North Yorkshire

Category:Beck watercourses