Beaulieu River

The Beaulieu River at Longwater Lawn, near Lyndhurst.

The Beaulieu River (bjuːli) is a small river flowing south through the New Forest in Hampshire. The river is some 12 miles long, of which the last 4 miles are tidal. Unusually, the entire river, including its bed, is owned by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.

The Beaulieu River rises near Lyndhurst in the centre of the New Forest, and flows south-easterly 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 through the forest, passing the village of Bucklers Hard and entering the sea through the Solent.

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 and including Nelson's Agamemnon.

Name of the river

The name "Beaulieu" is French, meaning "beautiful place", though it is pronounced in the English fashion.

The river was formerly known as the "River Exe", a name shared with the River Exe in Devon. "Exe" is a variant of a common river name found throughout Great Britain, most commonly as "Esk".

Pictures

• 
  The infant river upstream from Dunces Arch
• 
  The river at Longwater Lawn
• 
  The river passes beneath the railway line
• 
  Bend in the river near Pottern Ford
• 
  The river south of Ipley Bridge
• 
  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 Buckler's Hard
• 
  The river at Buckler's Hard
• 
  A yacht entering the river from the Solent

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about River Beaulieu River)

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