A dene or dean (

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

: ''denu'') used to be a common name for a valley, in which sense it is frequently found as a component of British place-names, such as

Rottingdean Rottingdean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. It borders the villages of Saltdean, Ovingdean and Woodingdean, and has a historic centre, often the subject of picture postcards. Name The name Rotting ...

and

Ovingdean Ovingdean is a small, formerly agricultural village and former civil parish on the eastern edge of the city of Brighton and Hove in the ceremonial county East Sussex, England. In 1921 the parish had a population of 476. On 1 April 1928 the pari ...

in England and

Deanston Deanston () is a village in the Stirling council area, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Teith east of Doune, in south-west Perthshire. It is a part of the parish of Kilmadock. Etymology The name comes from Walter Drummond, Dean of Dun ...

and Hassendean in Scotland. It is a cognate of

den Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita'' ...

, from the Old English ''denn'', a cave or "lurking place". The word still survives in the Northumbrian dialect. In the English counties of Durham and

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

a dene is a steep-sided wooded valley through which a

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...

runs. Many of the incised valleys cut by small streams that flow off the Durham and Northumberland plateau into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

are given the name Dene, as in Castle Eden Dene and Crimdon Dene in County Durham and

Jesmond Dene Jesmond Dene, a public park in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, occupies the narrow steep-sided valley of a small river known as the Ouseburn, flowing south to join the River Tyne. In north-east England, such valleys are commonly ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

References

Valleys {{Topography-stub