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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 ("winter stream"). A winterbourne is sometimes simply called a bourne , from the Anglo-Saxon word for a stream flowing from a spring, although this term can also be used for all-year water courses. [1] Winterbournes generally form in areas where there is chalk (or other porous rock) downland bordering clay valleys or vales. When it rains, the porous chalk holds water in its aquifer, releasing the water at a steady rate. During dry seasons the water table 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.
Winterbournes occasionally give their names to settlements. Many of the United Kingdom's 'Winterbournes' are villages in Dorset, such as Winterbourne Abbas, Winterborne Monkton, Winterborne St Martin, Winterborne Zelston, Winterborne Houghton and Winterborne Whitechurch. In north 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.
There is a winterbourne stream in a suburban area of Lewes, 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.
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology. Related terms include aquitard, which is a bed of low permeability along an aquifer, and aquiclude, which is a solid, impermeable area underlying or overlying an aquifer, the pressure of which could lead to the formation of a confined aquifer. The classification of aquifers is as follows: Saturated versus unsaturated; aquifers versus aquitards; confined versus unconfined; isotropic versus anisotropic; porous, karst, or fractured; transboundary aquifer.
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 derived from the Celtic word "dun", meaning "fort" or "fastness", though the original meaning would have been "hill", as early forts were commonly hillforts - compare Germanic "burg" (fort) and "berg" (mountain).
The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about 260 sq mi (670 km2) across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. The Downs are bounded on the northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose crest there are extensive views northwards across the Weald. The South Downs National Park forms a much larger area than the chalk range of the South Downs, and includes large parts of the Weald.
Winterbourne may refer to:
The River Lambourn is a chalk stream in the English county of Berkshire. It rises in the Berkshire Downs near its namesake village of Lambourn and is a tributary of the River Kennet, which is itself a tributary of the River Thames.
Berwick Bassett is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Marlborough and 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Swindon. The village is on the west bank of a headstream of the River Kennet and close to the A4361 road, formerly the A361, which links Devizes and Avebury with Wroughton and Swindon.
Winterbourne Bassett is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Swindon and 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Marlborough.
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, the water in the streams contains little organic matter and sediment and is generally very clear.
The River Wylye, also known in its upper reaches as the River Deverill, is a chalk stream in Wiltshire, England, with clear water flowing over gravel. It is popular with fly fishermen. A half-mile stretch of the river and three lakes in Warminster are a local nature reserve.
Intermittent, temporary or seasonal rivers or streams cease to flow every year or at least twice every five years. Such rivers drain large arid and semi-arid areas, covering approximately a third of the Earth's surface. The extent of temporary rivers is increasing, as many formerly perennial rivers are becoming temporary because of increasing water demand, particularly for irrigation. Despite inconsistent water flow, intermittent rivers are considered land-forming agents in arid regions, as they are agents of significant deposition and erosion during flood events. The combination of dry crusted soils and the highly erosive energy of the rain cause sediment resuspension and transport to the coastal areas. They are among the aquatic habitats most altered by human activities. During the summer even under no flow conditions the point sources are still active such as the wastewater effluents, resulting in nutrients and organic pollutants accumulating in the sediment. Sediment operates as a pollution inventory and pollutants are moved to the next basin with the first flush. Their vulnerability is intensified by the conflict between water use demand and aquatic ecosystem conservation. Advanced modelling tools have been developed to better describe intermittent flow dynamic changes such as the tempQsim model.
The River Ems is a much-sluiced, six miles (9.7 km) river that is located in the far west of the county of West Sussex, England.The last one and a half miles (2.4 km), of this river, delimits eastern Hampshire, before flowing into the sea at Chichester Harbour.
A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large streams are usually called rivers, while smaller, less voluminous and more intermittent streams are known as streamlets, brooks or creeks.
The Church of St Mary Magdalene is the Anglican church in the village of Winterbourne Monkton, north of Avebury in Wiltshire, England. It is a 19th-century rebuilding of a structure dating from the 14th century.
The Gypsey Race is a winterbourne stream that rises to the east of Wharram-le-Street and flows through the villages of Duggleby, Kirby Grindalythe, West Lutton, East Lutton, Helperthorpe, Weaverthorpe, Butterwick, Foxholes, Wold Newton, Burton Fleming, Rudston and Boynton. The stream flows into the North Sea in Bridlington harbour. It is the most northerly of the Yorkshire chalk streams.
Winterborne Farringdon is a deserted village in Dorset, England, 1.5 miles south of Dorchester. Its lands are now incorporated into the adjacent settlements of Winterborne Came and Winterborne Herringston. There are substantial ground traces, and a remaining wall of St German's Church.
There are two River Winterbornes in Dorset, England.
A gypsey is a name given to intermittent springs and streams in the Yorkshire Wolds, England. Gypseys are streams formed from springs from the waterladen chalk that constitutes the Yorkshire Wolds. The springs flow in late winter or early spring, with the water emanating through unbroken turf.
A bourne is an intermittent stream, flowing from a spring. Frequent in chalk and limestone country where the rock becomes saturated with winter rain, that slowly drains away until the rock becomes dry, when the stream ceases. The word is from the Anglo-Saxon language of England.
Winterbourne is a civil parish in south east Wiltshire, England, about 3.5 miles (6 km) northeast of Salisbury. The parish encompasses the contiguous villages of Winterbourne Dauntsey, Winterbourne Earls and Winterbourne Gunner, together with the hamlet of Hurdcott south of Winterbourne Earls.
Winterborne Herringston, also Winterbourne Herringston, is a small civil parish and hamlet containing about 600 acres in Dorset, England, 1.4 miles south of Dorchester. The only significant structure is Herringston House, a Grade II* listed 14th-century manor house which has been the home of the Williams family since 1513.