River Avon, Hampshire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The River Avon is a river in the counties of Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset in the south of England, sometimes distinguished as the Salisbury Avon or the Hampshire Avon.
[edit] Etymology
The river's name is a tautology: Avon is derived from the Proto-Brythonic word meaning "river", and therefore the river's name means River River.
[edit] Course
The Avon rises in Wiltshire east of Devizes, draining the Vale of Pewsey. From here it cuts through the chalk scarp at Upavon, flowing southwards across Salisbury Plain through Durrington, Amesbury and Salisbury. To the south of Salisbury it enters the Hampshire Basin, flowing along the western edge of the New Forest through Fordingbridge and Ringwood, meeting up with the river Stour at Christchurch, to flow into Christchurch Harbour and the English Channel at Mudeford.
All the significant tributaries of the Avon including the Nadder, Wylye, Bourne and Ebble converge within a short distance around Salisbury.
For part of its path it forms the border between Dorset and Hampshire. Prior to the 1974 reorganization of local government the whole of the section now in or bordering Dorset was wholly within Hampshire, leading to the river being popularly known as the Hampshire Avon.
The Avon Valley Path goes from Salisbury to Christchurch.
[edit] See also
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