The River Bourne is a small river in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of ...

, England. It flows into the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kan ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

, taking its name simply from

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

''bourn'' or ''burn'', a small stream, and giving it to the town at its mouth. The Bourne comprises two main tributaries totalling just over of waterway; of this total length is culverted and is open stream. Its drainage catchment is some , about 70% of which lies within the Borough of

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council ...

. The stream is fed from a number of sources but there is little documentary evidence and the actual origins of some are unknown. The head of the stream consists of three culverts emerging from below Ringwood Road; it is believed that one drains Canford Heath, one is fed from the

Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water Bournemouth Water provides drinking water to approximately 500,000 people from the port town of Poole to Beaulieu in the New Forest and from Bournemouth to Salisbury in Wiltshire, an area of over 1000 square kilometres. History Bournemouth Wa ...

works at Francis Avenue in

Knighton Heath Knighton Heath is an area of Bournemouth, Dorset in England. Knighton Heath is south of Bearwood, west of Wallisdown and West Howe, and north of Alderney. Facilities Knighton Heath is home to a golf club, an industrial estate and Bournemouth ...

and the third is supplied by road run-off. After flowing across Alderney Recreation Ground the stream is culverted for and re-emerges at Coy Pond Gardens. The stream is also fed by natural

seeps A petroleum seep is a place where natural liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons escape to the earth's atmosphere and surface, normally under low pressure or flow. Seeps generally occur above either terrestrial or offshore petroleum accumulation stru ...

and flushes, and there are 62 documented surface water discharges to the watercourse. In the upper reaches, the catchment boundaries are approximately defined by Ringwood Road to the west, Wallisdown Road to the north and Ashley Road/Poole Road to the south. In the lower reaches, the catchment width gradually narrows towards the outfall at Bournemouth Pier. The overall fall between the highest levels in the upper catchment to the Poole Bay outfall is approximately , giving an overall gradient of approximately 1:100 which is considered to be steep. Reaching Bournemouth Town Centre, it flows through

public gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

, known as the Upper, Central and Lower Gardens. It goes underground at The Square (which divides the Central Gardens from the Lower Gardens) and again just before it reaches the beach immediately east of Bournemouth Pier, so that its mouth is no longer visible.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourne, Dorset Rivers of Bournemouth Rivers of Poole Rivers of Dorset Dorset Bournemouth