The source of the river is located over 1000 feet above sea level in the Staffordshire moorlands, near the gritstone escarpment of the Roaches, and next to the A53 Leek to Buxton road, It is only a few hundred yards away from Black Brook which ultimately, through the Dane and Weaver, flows into the Irish Sea; however, the Churnet, through the Dove, Trent and Humber Estuary, ultimately flows into the North Sea.