| River Bride | |
|---|---|
 Source of the River Bride at Bridehead House, Littlebredy | |
  Location within Dorset | |
| Etymology | Celtic |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| County | Dorset |
| District | Dorset |
| Towns and villages | Littlebredy, Burton Bradstock |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Littlebredy, Dorset, England |
| • elevation | 300 ft (91 m) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Burton Bradstock, Dorset, England |
• coordinates | 50°42′09″N2°44′26″W / 50.7026°N 2.7405°W |
| Length | 10.5 km (6.5 mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Burton Bradstock |
The River Bride is a river in Dorset, England, situated between the towns of Dorchester and Bridport. It runs through the Bride Valley, a distinct landscape area in the Dorset National Landscape.
The River Bride is approximately 6.5 miles (10.5 km) long and has a catchment area of 15 square miles (39 km2). [1] It rises on the eastern side of Black Down [2] at an altitude of 90 metres (300 ft) [3] beneath an artificial lake at Bridehead House, Littlebredy on the escarpment of the Dorset Downs. It flows west to its mouth west of Burton Bradstock, reaching the coast through a break in coastal cliffs at Burton Freshwater. It empties into the English Channel over the western end of Chesil Beach where it "forms itself into a pool and fights to get to the sea intact before sinking into the shingle." [4] It has nine tributaries and descends more than 60 metres (200 ft) in its first three miles. [1]
The Bride Valley is a protected area as part of the Dorset National Landscape (an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). 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 escarpment to the south, with a "strong undeveloped rural character". [2] Land use is primarily a patchwork of dairy pasture and wet woodland in the valley floor, and arable, scrub and calcareous grassland on the valley sides. [2]
