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 Kana ...

at Bournemouth, 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. 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 works at Francis Avenue in Knighton Heath 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 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 Poole Bay is a bay in the English Channel, on the coast of Dorset in southern England, which stretches 16km from Sandbanks at the mouth of Poole Harbour in the west, to Hengistbury Head in the east. Poole Bay is a relatively shallow embayment a ...

outfall is approximately , giving an overall gradient of approximately 1:100 which is considered to be steep. Reaching

Bournemouth Town Centre Bournemouth Town Centre is an area of Bournemouth, Dorset. The town centre is the central business district and is located near the coast between West Cliff and East Cliff. History In 1908 a tramway accident killed 7 people in the Town Cent ...

, it flows through public gardens, 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