The River Bride is a river in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, situated between the towns of Dorchester and

Bridport Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the River Asker, Asker. Its origins are Anglo-Saxons, Saxon and it has a long history as a ...

. It runs through the Bride Valley, a distinct landscape area in the

Dorset National Landscape Dorset National Landscape is a Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Landscape area in Dorset, southern England, formerly known as and still legally designated as the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The conservation desig ...

. The River Bride is approximately long and has a catchment area of . It rises on the eastern side of Black Down at an altitude of beneath an artificial lake at Bridehead House,

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

on the

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

of the

Dorset Downs The Dorset Downs are an area of chalk downland in the centre of the county Dorset in south west England. The downs are the most western part of a larger chalk formation which also includes (from west to east) Cranborne Chase, Salisbury Plain, ...

. It flows west to its mouth west of

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 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census the parish had a population of 948. The ...

, reaching the coast through a break in coastal cliffs at Burton Freshwater. It empties into the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

over 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 Associ ...

where it "forms itself into a pool and fights to get to the sea intact before sinking into the shingle." It has nine tributaries and descends more than in its first three miles. The Bride Valley is a protected area as part of the

(an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

). The National Landscape Partnership describe it as a broad clay valley having a sweeping profile enclosed by the chalk escarpment to the north and east, and smaller

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

escarpment to the south, with a "strong undeveloped rural character". Land use is primarily a patchwork of dairy pasture and wet woodland in the valley floor, and arable, scrub and

calcareous grassland Calcareous grassland (or alkaline grassland) is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. There are large areas of calcareous grassland in northwestern Europe, particularly areas of southern Engla ...

on the valley sides.

Etymology

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 Foot ...

origin. It is derived from

Old Welsh Old Welsh () 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 around 550, ha ...

''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 a newlywed. When marrying, if the bride's future spouse is a man, he is usually referred to as the ''bridegroom'' or just ''groom''. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by a maid, ...

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