Bourne Rivulet
Encyclopedia
The Bourne Rivulet is a river in the English
county of Hampshire
. It is a tributary of the River Test
.
The Bourne Rivulet (known simply as 'The Bourne' locally) is a seasonal chalk stream
that rises and falls with the natural water table in the area. It usually rises in January and flows until around August each year. It normally runs from the village of Upton and flows through the villages of Hurstbourne Tarrant
, St Mary Bourne
and Hurstbourne Priors
before joining with the River Test near Tufton.
Due to public water extraction above the headwater, the river flows increasingly intermittently above it. However Vitacress Salads Ltd.'s watercress plant, which is situated at the perennial headwaters, augments the flow and allows the Bourne to remain perennial downstream, the flow being maintained by its pumping of water back into the stream.
Fans of this book, which chronicles the author's fishing experiences on the Bourne between 1902 and 1912, still come from all over the world to fish here.
. In the past there has been an unexplained subtle invertebrate imbalance (source: Environment Agency). Since 2007, Vitacress Salads Ltd. has taken measures which have reversed the imbalance (source: Environment Agency 2008), to the extent that restoration works downstream were recently winners in the Wild Trust Trust 2008 Awards.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. It is a tributary of the River Test
River Test
The River Test is a river in Hampshire, England. The river has a total length of 40 miles and it flows through downland from its source near Ashe, 10 km to the west of Basingstoke , to the sea at the head of Southampton Water...
.
The Bourne Rivulet (known simply as 'The Bourne' locally) is a seasonal chalk stream
Chalk stream
Chalk streams have characteristics which set them apart from watercourses associated with other rock types.Aside from those with an interest in the geological and ecological disciplines, the term chalk stream is most widely used among a small group of fly fishermen ,...
that rises and falls with the natural water table in the area. It usually rises in January and flows until around August each year. It normally runs from the village of Upton and flows through the villages of Hurstbourne Tarrant
Hurstbourne Tarrant
Hurstbourne Tarrant is a village in Hampshire, England. It lies to the north of the county in the Test Valley.The Tarrant part of the name originates from 1226, when the village was given to the Cistercian Tarrant nunnery....
, St Mary Bourne
St Mary Bourne
St Mary Bourne is small village and civil parish in northwest Hampshire. It lies in the valley of the Bourne Rivulet, a tributary of the River Test 5 miles northeast of the town of Andover.-Governance:...
and Hurstbourne Priors
Hurstbourne Priors
Husrtbourne Priors is a small village and civil parish in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Whitchurch, which lies approximately 1.8 miles north-east from the village....
before joining with the River Test near Tufton.
Due to public water extraction above the headwater, the river flows increasingly intermittently above it. However Vitacress Salads Ltd.'s watercress plant, which is situated at the perennial headwaters, augments the flow and allows the Bourne to remain perennial downstream, the flow being maintained by its pumping of water back into the stream.
In literature
The Bourne was celebrated in a much loved book by Harry Plunket Greene, "Where the Bright Waters Meet", in which he described it as "unquestionably the finest trout stream in the south of England."Fans of this book, which chronicles the author's fishing experiences on the Bourne between 1902 and 1912, still come from all over the world to fish here.
Environmental Issues
The river still produces some large wild brown troutBrown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
. In the past there has been an unexplained subtle invertebrate imbalance (source: Environment Agency). Since 2007, Vitacress Salads Ltd. has taken measures which have reversed the imbalance (source: Environment Agency 2008), to the extent that restoration works downstream were recently winners in the Wild Trust Trust 2008 Awards.