Not to be confused with the smaller Cornish watercourse which shares the same name

Red River, Marazion

The Red River which discharges into the sea to the west of Marazion is one of two watercourses in Cornwall in southwest England, UK, which share this name....

 which discharges into Mount's Bay

Mount's Bay

Mount's Bay is a large, sweeping bay on the English Channel coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom, stretching from the Lizard Point to Gwennap Head on the eastern side of the Land's End peninsula. Towards the middle of the bay is St Michael's Mount...

 west of Marazion

Marazion

Marazion is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the shore of Mount's Bay, two miles east of Penzance and one mile east of Long Rock.St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore from Marazion...

 on Cornwall's south coast.

The Red River is a small river in north-west Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 which issues into St Ives Bay

St Ives Bay

St Ives Bay is a bay on the Atlantic coast of north-west Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It is in the form of a shallow crescent, some 4 miles or 6 km across, between St Ives in the west and Godrevy Head in the east....

 at Godrevy

Godrevy

Godrevy is an area of west Cornwall, United Kingdom, found on the north coast within St. Ives Bay and is popular with both the surfing community and walkers. It is home also to some areas administered by the National Trust, and a lighthouse maintained by Trinity House.- Godrevy Head :The headland ...

 on Cornwall's Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 coast. The Red River is approx 8 miles (13 kilometres) long and gets its name from the mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

 deposits associated with tin mining

Mining in Cornwall

Mining in Cornwall and Devon began in the early Bronze Age approximately 2,150 BC and ended with the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall closing in 1998...

 which formerly coloured its water red. The river's gradient is relatively steep; it falls 170 metres from source to sea.

The Red River rises from springs near Bolenowe

Bolenowe

Bolenowe is a village in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is approximately one-and-a-half miles southeast of Camborne. It consists of cottages that are spread apart by large gardens, the only amenities are a post box and a red phone box that has now been decommissioned.-Notable residents:It is...

 on the Carnmenellis

Carnmenellis

Carnmenellis Hill gives its name to the area of west Cornwall between Redruth, Helston and Penryn. The hill itself is situated approximately three miles south of Redruth....

 granite batholith

Batholith

A batholith is a large emplacement of igneous intrusive rock that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust...

, an upland plateau. The river flows north, passing through a gorge in the granite ridge west of Carn Brea

Carn Brea

Carn Brea is a civil parish and hilltop site in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The hilltop site is situated approximately one mile southwest of Redruth.-Neolithic settlement:...

. Beyond the gorge, the river passes Tuckingmill, once a centre of mining and associated industries. At the hamlet of Combe, the Tehidy

Tehidy Country Park

Tehidy Country Park is located near Camborne, Redruth and Portreath. It was once part of a created estate that was owned by the wealthy Basset Tin mining family.Covering , the estate was purchased by Cornwall County Council in 1983...

 Stream joins the Red River which then turns west towards Godrevy.

The Red River's catchment area includes the major mining areas of Tuckingmill, Pool

Pool, Cornwall

The village of Pool is bypassed by the A30 in West Cornwall, situated on the A3047 between Camborne and Redruth, between Tuckingmill and Illogan Highway.Not to be confused with:* Poole, the town in Dorset....

, and Camborne

Camborne

Camborne is a town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is at the western edge of a conurbation comprising Camborne, Pool and Redruth....

. Thus:

"The Red River catchment has been subjected to mining and mineral working for many centuries, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It has been extensively tin streamed and its water used for mineral processing, both for use in the mineral separation processes and as a source of power. As a result of past mining activities the river has undergone many modifications and for significant parts of its course the river has been diverted, canalised, and, in places, embanked. Very little, if any, of the river can be considered to be in a truly natural condition." Quoted from Cornwall County Council study of the Red River

Since mining finished, the Red River has lost its distinctive colour and natural ecology and biodiversity are being re-established. The river gives its name to the Red River Inn public house (formerly The Pendarves Arms) in nearby Gwithian

Gwithian

beach2Gwithian is a coastal village in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated three miles northeast of Hayle and four miles east of St Ives, Cornwall across St Ives Bay....

.