The River Bride is approximately 6.5 miles (10.5km) long and has a catchment area of 15 square miles (39km2).[1] It rises on the eastern side of Black Down[2] at an altitude of 90 metres (300ft)[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 (200ft) 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]
Etymology
The river's name is of Celtic origin. It is derived from Old WelshBrydi, related to Cornishbredion "to boil", so means "boiling or gushing" stream. The river gives its name to Long Bredy, Littlebredy, Burton Bradstock and probably Bridport.[5]
Chesil Beach in Dorset, England is one of three major shingle beach structures in Britain. Its name is derived from the word chessil, meaning "gravel" or "shingle". It runs for a length of 29 kilometres (18 mi) from West Bay to the Isle of Portland and in places is up to 15 metres (50 ft) high and 200 metres (660 ft) wide. Behind the beach is the Fleet, a shallow tidal lagoon. Both are part of the Jurassic Coast and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and together form an SSSI and Ramsar Site.
Abbotsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The village is located around 7+1⁄2 miles (12.1 km) west southwest of Dorchester and 1 mile (1.6 km) inland from the English Channel coast. In the 2021 census the civil parish had a population of 451.
Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and within the town's boundary is West Bay, a small fishing harbour also known as Bridport Harbour.
West Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the boroughs of Bridport, Dorchester and Lyme Regis, along with Sherborne urban district and the rural districts of Beaminster, Bridport, Dorchester and Sherborne. Its council was based in Dorchester.
West Bay, originally known as Bridport Harbour, is a small harbour settlement and resort on the English Channel coast in Dorset, England, sited at the mouth of the River Brit approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Bridport. The area is part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site.
Burton Bradstock is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, approximately 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) southeast of Bridport and 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) inland from the English Channel at Chesil Beach. In the 2011 Census the parish had a population of 948. The village lies in the Bride Valley, close to the mouth of the small River Bride. It comprises 16th- and 17th-century thatched cottages, a parish church, two pubs, a primary school, shop, post office stores, beach café, hotel, garage, village hall, reading room a library. The parish has a National Coastwatch Institution Station, Lyme Bay Station.
Long Bredy is a village in the civil parish of Long Bredy and Kingston Russell, in the county of Dorset in south-west England, situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited in the valley of the small River Bride, beneath chalk hills of the Dorset Downs. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 208. On 1 April 2024 the parish was abolished and merged with Kingston Russell to form "Long Bredy and Kingston Russell".
Powerstock is a village and civil parish in south west Dorset, England, situated in a steep valley on the edge of the Dorset Downs, 5 miles (8 km) north-east of the market town of Bridport. The civil parish includes the village of West Milton to the west and the summit and northern slopes of Eggardon Hill to the south-east. Powerstock village contains many cottages and two inns: The Three Horseshoes near the church and The Marquis of Lorne Inn on the other side of the valley in a small hamlet called Nettlecombe. The small Mangerton River runs through the valley.
Shipton Gorge is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Bridport. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of Shipton Gorge parish is 350. In the 2011 national census, results have been published for the parish of Shipton Gorge combined with the small neighbouring parish of Chilcombe to the east; the population of these areas was 381.
Littlebredy is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, situated approximately 6.5 miles (10.5 km) west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited at the head of the valley of the small River Bride, surrounded by wooded chalk hills of the Dorset Downs. The parish contains the Valley of Stones National Nature Reserve and is in an area rich with evidence of early human occupation. In the 2011 census it had a population of 121.
Lewesdon Hill is a hill near Broadwindsor in west Dorset, England. With a maximum elevation of 279 m (915 ft), it is the highest point in Dorset. The hill is owned and managed by the National Trust and is part of the Dorset National Landscape.
Askerswell is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England. It is sited on the small River Asker. It lies 11 miles (18 km) west of the county town Dorchester. The parish has an area of 1,724 acres and in the northeast includes the western slopes of Eggardon Hill, including part of the Iron Age hill fort close to its summit. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 154.
The River Brit is a river in west Dorset in south-west England, which rises just to the north of Beaminster. It then flows south to Netherbury and Bridport, where it is joined by tributaries: the River Simene and River Asker. South of Bridport, it reaches Lyme Bay on the English Channel coast, at West Bay. The Brit has a length of 9.43 miles (15.17 km).
Dorset is a county located in the middle of the south coast of England. It lies between the latitudes 50.512°N and 51.081°N and the longitudes 1.682°W and 2.958°W, and occupies an area of 2,653 km2. It spans 90 kilometres (56 mi) from east to west and 63 kilometres (39 mi) from north to south.
The Weymouth Lowlands form a natural region on the south coast of England in the county of Dorset. Much of the area lies within the Dorset National Landscape.
Kingston Russell is a settlement in the civil parish of Long Bredy and Kingston Russell, in the Dorset district, in the county of Dorset, England, 7 miles (11 km) west of Dorchester,. In 2001 the parish had a population of 35. The parish bordered Compton Valence, Littlebredy, Long Bredy and Winterbourne Abbas. Kingston Russell shared a parish council with Long Bredy. On 1 April 2024 the parish was abolished and merged with Long Bredy to form "Long Bredy and Kingston Russell". From 1974 to 2019 it was in West Dorset district.
Chesil Bank is an electoral ward in Dorset. Since 2019, the ward has elected 1 councillor to Dorset Council.
Dorset National Landscape is a 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 designation means that the area is protected and promoted for its landscape value. The area was established in 1959, one of the early wave of National Landscapes to receive the designation.
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