The River Bride is a 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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, situated between the towns of Dorchester and

Bridport Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and wit ...

. It is approximately long and has a catchment area of . It rises at an altitude of beneath an artificial lake at Bridehead House,

Littlebredy Littlebredy (also written Little Bredy, pronounced ) is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, situated approximately west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited at the head of the valley of the small River B ...

, then flows west to its mouth on 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 Ka ...

near

Burton Bradstock Burton Bradstock is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, approximately southeast of Bridport and inland from the English Channel at Chesil Beach. In the 2011 Census the parish had a population of 948. The village lies in the Bride ...

. It has nine tributaries and descends more than in its first three miles. It reaches the coast just west of Burton Bradstock through a break in coastal cliffs at Burton Freshwater; here it meets the western end of

Chesil Beach Chesil Beach (also known as Chesil Bank) in Dorset, England is one of three major shingle beach structures in Britain.A. P. Carr and M. W. L. Blackley, "Investigations Bearing on the Age and Development of Chesil Beach, Dorset, and the Associat ...

where it "forms itself into a pool and fights to get to the sea intact before sinking into the shingle." The river's name is of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

origin. It is derived from

Old Welsh Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...

''Brydi'', related to Cornish ''bredion'' "to boil", so means "boiling or gushing" stream. The river gives its name to Long Bredy, Littlebredy,

and probably Bridport. River Bride Mouth

Notes

Bride A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bride's future spouse, (if male) is usually referred to as the '' bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, bri ...

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