Avon Water is a small river draining some of the southwest of the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

The Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...

. West of the upper part of its archetypally

dendritic drainage In geomorphology, drainage systems, also known as river systems, are the patterns formed by the streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular drainage basin. They are governed by the topography of land, whether a particular region is dominated by har ...

basin, which has formed due to the forest's

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

soil, is the

due south ''Due South'' is a Canadian crime comedy-drama television series created by Paul Haggis, and produced by Alliance Communications from its premiere on April 26, 1994, to its conclusion after four seasons on March 14, 1999. The series starred Pau ...

, much larger River Avon, rising in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

Context

It is the smallest of three rivers (properly so called) which drain all but the north, west and east edges of the New Forest.Terry R. Healy, Ying Wang, Judy-Ann Healy (editors), (2002), ''Muddy coasts of the world: processes, deposits, and function'', page 413. Gulf Professional Publishing These flow south into the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...

: with the

Lymington River The Lymington River drains part of the New Forest in Hampshire in southern England. Numerous headwaters to the west of Lyndhurst give rise to the river, including Highland Water, Bratley Water and Fletchers Water. From Brockenhurst the river r ...

then

Beaulieu River The Beaulieu River ( ), formerly known as the River Exe, is a small river draining much of the central New Forest in Hampshire, southern England. The river has many small upper branches and its farthest source is from its -long tidal estuary. ...

, the furthest east.Colin Rodney Tubbs, (1968), ''The New Forest: an ecological history'', pages 19–20. David & Charles It rises at many sources close to, south of, Burley, and, quite minutely ribbled in places, curves from south-east to south over its course of 9 miles (14.5 km).Samuel Lewis, (1855), ''The book of English rivers: an account of the rivers of England'', page 31 It flows into the Solent at

Keyhaven Keyhaven is a hamlet on the south coast of England in the county of Hampshire. It is a fishing village, but the trade has been in decline for a period of years and its main draw now is tourism, especially sailing. Overview Keyhaven lies in the ...

,William White, (1878), ''History, gazetteer and directory of the county of Hampshire'', page 56 close to the shingle bank that leads to

Hurst Castle Hurst Castle is an artillery fort established by Henry VIII on the Hurst Spit in Hampshire, England, between 1541 and 1544. It formed part of the king's Device Forts coastal protection programme against invasion from France and the Holy Roman ...

. The name thought to have been little-used or communicated outside of certain social circles;Old Hampshire Gazetteer - Sway
/ref> yet it dates from at least the 1790s. It is labelled on

Thomas Milne Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

's map of Hampshire published by

William Faden William Faden (1749 – 1836) was an English cartographer and a publisher of maps. He was the royal geographer to King George III. He replaced Thomas Jefferys in that role. The title of "geographer to the king" was given to various people in th ...

in 1791. '' Cary's New Itinerary'' of 1810 also gives its name but confounds it with the stream ending at Keyhaven Harbour immediately to the west of the lower part (the Dane(s) stream draining

Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsc'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

Hordle Hordle is a village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire, England. It is situated between the Solent coast and the New Forest, and is bordered by the towns of Lymington and New Milton. Like many New Forest parishes Hordle has no vill ...

, and

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

).John Cary, (1810), ''Cary's New itinerary''
R. 195 Lymington to Poole
/ref> Notably it drains the populous railway village of Sway.

Notes and references

;Footnotes ;Citations

External links

{{Authority control New Forest Rivers of Hampshire