Beaulieu River

Beaulieu River
River
The Beaulieu River at Longwater Lawn, near Lyndhurst
Country	England
Region	Hampshire
District	New Forest
Source
- location	Lyndhurst, Hampshire
Mouth
- location	Needs Oar Point, Hampshire
Length	20 km (12 mi)

The Beaulieu River /ˈbjuːli/, formerly known as the River Exe,^[1] is a small river flowing through the New Forest in the county of Hampshire in southern England. The river is some 12 miles (19 km) long, of which the last 4 miles (6 km) are tidal. Unusually, the entire river, including its bed, is owned by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.

The Beaulieu River rises near Lyndhurst (SU295090) in the centre of the New Forest, and flows east and then south across the forest heaths to the village of Beaulieu. At Beaulieu the river becomes tidal and once drove a tide mill in the village. Below Beaulieu the tidal river continues to flow south-east through the Forest, passing the village of Bucklers Hard and entering the sea at the Solent (SZ4397).

The tidal river below Beaulieu village is navigable to small craft. Bucklers Hard was once a significant shipbuilding centre, building many wooden sailing ships, both merchant and naval, including Nelson's Agamemnon.

Since 2000 the navigable channel at the entrance to the river has been marked by a lighthouse known as the Millennium Lighthouse or the Beaulieu River Beacon.^[2][3]

Etymology

The name "Beaulieu" is French, meaning "beautiful place".

The earlier name, "Exe", is Brythonic, deriving from an original Ancient British word *Iska, which is also at the root of other Exe and Esk river-names in England, and also the Usk in Wales (Wysg in Welsh). Its root meaning may be "fish" or "fish-place", as it seems to be cognate with the Latin pisces and Greek ἰχθύς ichthys, as well as English "fish".

Film appearances

The river was used as a backdrop for some scenes of the 1966 film A Man for All Seasons – the tree-lined waters were used to portray the 16th century River Thames.^[4]

Gallery

• 

  The infant river upstream from Dunces Arch

• 

  The river passes beneath the railway, north of Fulliford Passage

• 

  Bend in the river near Pottern Ford

• 

  Alder trees in the river north of Fawley Ford

• 

  The Mill Dam at Beaulieu

• 

  The upper tidal limit of the river

• 

  The river between Beaulieu and Bucklers Hard

• 

  The river at Bucklers Hard

• 

  A yacht entering the river from the Solent

• 

  Millennium Lighthouse at the mouth of the river

References

1. Lewis, S. (1848) A Topographical Dictionary of England: Southampton County in British History Online
2. Davison, Steve (2012). Walking in the New Forest: 30 Walks in the New Forest National Park. Cicerone Press Limited. p. 195. ISBN 9781849657075.
3. "60 years in the New Forest". New Forest National Park Authority. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
4. Gene Brown (1984) The New York Times Encyclopedia of Film: 1964-1968, ISBN 0812910532

External links

• Geology of the Beaulieu River Estuary by Ian West and Yining Chen

Coordinates: 50°46′N 1°24′W / 50.767°N 1.400°W