The River Ems is a much-sluiced,

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

that is located in the far west of the county of

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

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 ...

.The last , of this river, delimits eastern

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, before flowing into the sea at

Chichester Harbour Chichester Harbour is a large natural harbour in West Sussex and Hampshire. It is situated to the south-west of the city of Chichester and to the north of the Solent. The harbour and surrounding land has been designated as an Area of Outstand ...

. The river was so named, the "Ems", by a chronicler in the Tudor period.

Sources

Over the centuries various cartographers and chroniclers have suggested a variety of sources for the Ems. According to research by David J. Rudkin the River Ems has its source about east of Stoughton.

From source to the sea

The River Ems has a catchment area of over , and its upper reaches drain the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the ...

.Along the county-limits part, of its west bank, is the old town portion of

Emsworth Emsworth is a town in the Borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England near the border with West Sussex. It lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large and shallow inlet from the English Channe ...

that contains mainly pre-1900-built buildings. The Ems flows south west through

Walderton Walderton is a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies on the B2146 road northeast of Emsworth. It is in the civil parish of Stoughton. The name Walderton derives from the ''town of Wealdhere's people''. The village ...

as a broad-catchment winterbourne. It runs past: *the hamlet that includes well-preserved

Lordington House Lordington House is a manor house near Walderton in West Sussex. It is a Grade II* listed building. History Lordington House was built around 1500. It was acquired by Sir Geoffrey Pole in the 16th century, by Hugh Speke in 1609 and then by Sir J ...

Racton Monument Racton Monument (known locally as Racton Ruin) is a folly on a hill in Racton, West Sussex, England with views over Chichester Harbour and to the Isle of Wight. It was commissioned by the 2nd Earl of Halifax, either as a summerhouse for the near ...

which has nearby in Racton hamlet the church for Lordington *A copse, Ractonpark Dell *the village of Westbourne, has the westmost section of the Ems, in Sussex. Westbourne receives a year-round brook from the north and that descends under the railway at Emsworth (in Hampshire), becomes tidal, drains Brook Meadow to Peter and Slipper Mill Ponds from where it discharges into the sea. At lower tides it helps forms at the head of Emsworth Channel in the harbour; its last few metres enable access to Emworth Marina, the other former tidal mill pond. There is little or no surface water in prolonged dry periods as the downstream springs have lowered the level of the water-table. However, when the underlying aquifers are full, the rain runs off and the stream system starts to function.

Etymology

It is sometimes thought that the town of Emsworth derives its name from that of the River Ems, this is not correct as before the 16th Century the stream was originally called the Bourne. The river was renamed by the 16th century chronicler

Raphael Holinshed Raphael Holinshed (; before 24 April 1582) was an English chronicler, who was most famous for his work on ''The Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande'', commonly known as ''Holinshed's Chronicles''. It was the "first complete printed h ...

. Many of the towns and villages that the River Ems runs through or past still have Bourne as a suffix. e.g.: Westbourne.

Notes

References

Citations

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ems Rivers of Hampshire Rivers of West Sussex