River Ebble
Encyclopedia
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...
city of Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
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Rising at Alvediston
Alvediston
Alvediston is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 91 . It is about eight miles east of Shaftesbury, at , and is the source of the River Ebble....
12 miles to the west 51°0′36.41"N 2°2′5.76"W it joins the River Avon
River Avon, Hampshire
The River Avon is a river in the south of England. The river rises in the county of Wiltshire and flows through the city of Salisbury and the county of Hampshire before reaching the English Channel through Christchurch Harbour in the county of Dorset....
2 miles south of Salisbury at Bodenham 51°1′58.04"N 1°45′29.10"W, after flowing through Ebbesbourne Wake
Ebbesbourne Wake
Ebbesbourne Wake is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about twelve miles south-west of Salisbury.-Village life:Village life today, for the population of 226, centres around the unassuming Horseshoe Inn in...
, Fifield Bavant, Little London, Knapp, Mount Sorrel, Broad Chalke
Broad Chalke
Broad Chalke, sometimes spelled Broadchalke , Broad Chalk or Broadchalk, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 8 miles west of the city of Salisbury. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 652 but this has now risen to around 850...
, Stoke Farthing, Bishopstone
Bishopstone, Salisbury
Bishopstone is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, one of the villages in the River Ebble valley. It is located about south-west of Salisbury. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 614....
, Stratford Tony, Coombe Bissett
Coombe Bissett
Coombe Bissett is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, at . It is one of the villages in the River Ebble valley.-Description:...
, Odstock
Odstock
Odstock is a village and civil parish about south of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England.In the woods about Odstock are earthworks. The meaning of the name is probably "Odo's stockade".Odstock's parish population was 118 in 1801, 158 in 1901 and 535 in 1971...
and Nunton
Nunton
Nunton is a small village and former civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the River Ebble. Its nearest town is Salisbury, about away to the north.There is a pub, the Radnor Arms.-External links:* at any-village.com...
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The River Chalke
River Chalke
The River Chalke is a small river within the English county of Wiltshire, the most significant tributary of the River Ebble.The river rises at Bowerchalke and flows through the Chalke Valley to join the Ebble at Mount Sorrel in Broad Chalke...
is the most significant tributary, rising in Bowerchalke
Bowerchalke
Bowerchalke or Bower Chalke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Salisbury. It is in the south of Wiltshire, about from the county boundary with Dorset and from that with Hampshire. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding...
and flowing through the Chalke Valley to join the Ebble at Mount Sorrel in Broad Chalke, after running through and trout farms
Fish farming
Fish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases young fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species'...
. The Chalke also provides a steady, year round flow so that the winterbourne
Winterbourne (stream)
A winterbourne is a stream or river that is dry through the summer months. A winterbourne is sometimes simply called a bourne, from the Anglo-Saxon for a stream flowing from a spring, although this term can also be used for all-year water courses....
section of the Ebble is only from Alvediston to Knapp.
The flow of the Ebble is augmented at Little London by multiple pumped bore holes that feed the extensive commercial watercress
Watercress
Watercresses are fast-growing, aquatic or semi-aquatic, perennial plants native from Europe to central Asia, and one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by human beings...
farm at Knapp before the confluence with the Chalke.
Origin of the Name
In the book Ebbesbourne Wake Through The Ages historian Peter Meers surmised that the land and the bourne (river) was once owned by a man called Ebbel. He also identified that from Saxon times until 1166 there were two villages called Ebblesborne, one of which then became known as BishopstoneBishopstone, Salisbury
Bishopstone is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, one of the villages in the River Ebble valley. It is located about south-west of Salisbury. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 614....
. Note that the word bourne
Bourne
-General:*A winterbourne * Bourne , a surname*The Bourne shell, in Unix*Jason Bourne, a fictional character who is the protagonist of a trilogy of novels by Robert Ludlum and of a film series based on the books*Bourne Co...
is derived from the Old English "brunna".