Winterbourne (stream)

The dry bed of the River Ebble, pictured in August

The same location in April

A winterbourne is a stream that occurs in the upper reaches of a river fed by a chalk aquifer. The winterbourne flows in the winter typically from December until approximately April before declining until the following winter. When it rains, the porous chalk holds water in its aquifer and releases the water at a steady rate. During the dry season, the water table can fall below the level of the stream bed, causing it to dry up. The length of the dry phase depends on the longitudinal position of the stream. ^[1]

History of the name

As a simplex name bourne is a stream or river found specifically in chalk and limestone country. The term bourne may be applied to a stream or river that permanently flows. In the compound version the association that winterborne has with intermittent streams may have arisen from the OE: winterburna meaning "winter stream". Compounds of winter with other words for streams are rare. ^{[2] [3]}

Examples

The distribution of Burna is based mainly in southern England in the lands that were controlled by the Saxons and Jutes, beyond this area the use of the name is not so common. ^[3] The compound winterburna is associated with intermittent streams. For example, in Sussex there are three designated chalk rivers – The River Ems and River Lavant in West Sussex, and the Lewes Winterbourne in East Sussex. The River Lavant, the Winterborne and the upper reaches of the River Ems only flow in the winter. ^{[4] [5] [3]}

In Dorset there are two rivers called Winterborne that have given their name to a number of villages including Winterbourne Abbas, Winterborne Monkton, Winterborne St Martin, Winterborne Zelston, Winterborne Houghton and Winterborne Whitechurch. In northern Wiltshire, north of Avebury, there are the villages of Winterbourne Monkton and Winterbourne Bassett, and in south Wiltshire, north-east of Salisbury, Winterbourne Dauntsey, Winterbourne Earls and Winterbourne Gunner. In South Gloucestershire there are the villages of Winterbourne and Winterbourne Down. ^[3]

Controversy

The use of chalk aquifers as a domestic water source in Britain has turned 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. ^{[6] [7]} To mitigate the effects of water abstraction from valuable chalk streams in southern England, a joint venture between the Portsmouth Water Company and Southern Water PLC are building a reservoir at Havant. It will be filled with surplus water abstracted from local springs in the winter. The purpose of the reservoir is to facilitate a reduction in abstractions of water from the River Test and the River Itchen, in Hampshire as well as increasing the resilience of future water supply. ^[8]

See also

• Places called Winterbourne
• Arroyo (watercourse)
• Chalk stream
• Intermittent and ephemeral streams
• Perennial stream, a stream or river that flows all year round
• Wadi
• Gypsey (spring), East Yorkshire name for a Winterbourne

Notes

1. Berrie & Wright 1984.
2. Chisolm 1911.
3. Gelling 1984, pp. 16–20.
4. Rogers 2013, p. 95.
5. Sussex Wildlife Trust 2026.
6. White 2016.
7. Chief scientists group 2023.
8. PWC 2023.

References

• Berrie, A.D; Wright, J.F. (1984). Whitton, B.A. (ed.). "The Winterbourne stream". Ecology of European Rivers. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications: 176–206.
• Chief scientists group (November 2023). "Annex to the review of the research and scientific understanding of drought" (PDF). Bristol: Environment Agency. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
• Chisolm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Borne  . Vol. 4 (11 ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 332–333. – via Wikisource.
• Gelling, Margaret (1984). Place Names in the Landscape: The Geographical Roots of Britain's Place-names. London: Phoenix Press. ISBN   1-84212-264-9.
• PWC (2023). "Business plan 2025 to 2030 PT02 delivering Havant thicket reservoir for our customers and the region" (PDF). Portsmouth Water Company. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
• Rogers, Adam (2013). Water and Roman Urbanism: Towns, Waterscapes, Land Transformation and Experience in Roman Britain. Brill. ISBN   978-90-04-24787-1.
• Sussex Wildlife Trust (2026). "Chalk Streams". Sussex Wildlife trust. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
• White, J.C. (2016). "Macroinvertebrate community responses to hydrological controls and groundwater abstraction effects across intermittent and perennial headwater streams". Science of the Total Environment. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.081.