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A winterbourne is a stream or river that is dry through the summer months, a special case of an intermittent stream. Winterbourne is a British term derived from the Old English winterburna, which is equivalent to winter + burna. A winterbourne is sometimes simply called a bourne, from the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
word for a stream flowing from a spring, although this term can also be used for all-year water courses. Winterbournes generally form in areas where there is
chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. C ...
(or other porous rock)
downland Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...
bordering
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...
valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...
s or
vale A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipa ...
s. When it rains, the porous chalk holds water in its
aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characte ...
, releasing the water at a steady rate. During dry seasons the
water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...
may fall below the level of the stream's bed, causing it to dry out. Exploitation of chalk aquifers as a domestic water source in Britain has had the effect of converting many streams and rivers into artificial winterbournes. This effect is controversial, and local campaigns have often been successful in reducing aquifer abstraction and reversing the effect. For an example, see the River Pang in Berkshire.


Examples

Winterbournes occasionally give their names to settlements. Many of the United Kingdom's 'Winterbournes' are villages 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 , ...
, such as
Winterbourne Abbas Winterborne Abbas is a village and civil parish in south west Dorset, England, situated in a valley on the A35 road west of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 355. The village Winterbourne Abbas is a pleasant r ...
,
Winterborne Monkton Winterborne Monkton is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies close to the A354 road between the county town Dorchester, to the north, and the coastal resort Weymouth, to the south. Dorset C ...
, Winterborne St Martin, Winterborne Zelston, Winterborne Houghton and
Winterborne Whitechurch Winterborne Whitechurch, also Winterborne Whitchurch, is a village and civil parish in central Dorset, England, situated in a winterbourne valley on the A354 road on the Dorset Downs southwest of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the c ...
. In north
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, north of
Avebury Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in ...
, there are the villages of
Winterbourne Monkton Winterbourne Monkton is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about north of Avebury Stone Circle and northwest of Marlborough. The village lies immediately west of the A4361 road between Swindon and Devizes. History ...
and
Winterbourne Bassett __NOTOC__ Winterbourne Bassett is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Swindon and northwest of Marlborough. The village lies just west of the A4361 road between Swindon and Devizes, about north of Ave ...
, and in south Wiltshire, north-east of
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
, Winterbourne Dauntsey,
Winterbourne Earls Winterbourne Earls is a village in Wiltshire, England. The village is in the Bourne valley on the A338 road, about northeast of Salisbury. The village adjoins Winterbourne Dauntsey. It is part of the civil parish of Winterbourne, formed in ...
and Winterbourne Gunner. In
South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...
there are the villages of Winterbourne and Winterbourne Down. There is a winterbourne stream in a suburban area of
Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...
, East Sussex. The area is also called Winterbourne. The stream runs from the foot of the South Downs through a park, a housing estate and a public garden, ending at the Railway Land Nature Reserve where it meets the River Ouse. It is a clear and verdant stream, much frequented by ducks. Another winterbourne stream is the River Lavant found In Chichester, West Sussex.


See also

* Places called Winterbourne *
Arroyo (creek) An arroyo (; from Spanish arroyo , "brook"), also called a wash, is a dry creek, stream bed or gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Flash floods are common in arroyos following thunderstorms. '' Wad ...
*
Chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, t ...
* Intermittent and ephemeral streams *
Perennial stream A perennial stream is a stream that has continuous flow of surface water throughout the year in at least parts of its catchment during seasons of normal rainfall, Water Supply Paper 494. as opposed to one whose flow is intermittent. In the abse ...
, a stream or river that flows all year round *
Wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...
* Gypsey (spring), East Yorkshire name for a Winterbourne


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winterbourne (Stream) Bodies of water Rivers Rivers of England Dry or seasonal streams