Editing River Frome, Dorset

{{Short description|River in Dorset, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox river
| name = River Frome
| name_native = 
| name_native_lang = 
| name_other = 
| name_etymology = <!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| image = Dorset dorchester frome.jpg
| image_size = 260px
| image_caption = River Frome near Dorchester
| map = 
| map_size = 
| map_caption = 
| pushpin_map = United Kingdom Dorset
| pushpin_map_size = 
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within Dorset
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = [[United Kingdom]]
| subdivision_type2 = 
| subdivision_name2 = 
| subdivision_type3 = County
| subdivision_name3 = [[Dorset]]
| subdivision_type4 = 
| subdivision_name4 = 
| subdivision_type5 = 
| subdivision_name5 = <!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length = {{Convert|48|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| width_min = 
| width_avg = 
| width_max = 
| depth_min = 
| depth_avg = 
| depth_max = 
| discharge1_location = [[East Stoke, Dorset|East Stoke]]
| discharge1_min = {{convert|1.05|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}26&nbsp;August&nbsp;1976
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|6.38|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge1_max = {{convert|27.9|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}30&nbsp;December&nbsp;1993
| discharge2_location = [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]]
| discharge2_min = 
| discharge2_avg = {{convert|3.09|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge2_max = <!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source1 = 
| source1_location = [[Evershot]], [[Dorset]]
| source1_coordinates = {{coord|50|50|15|N|2|36|02|W|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation = {{convert|175|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth = 
| mouth_location = [[Poole]], [[Dorset]]
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|50|41|45|N|1|59|19|W|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = 
| progression = 
| river_system = 
| basin_size = 
| tributaries_left = {{hlist|[[River Cerne]]|[[Sydling Water]]}}
| tributaries_right = {{hlist|[[South Winterborne]]|[[River Hooke]]}}
| custom_label = 
| custom_data = 
| extra = 
}}

The '''River Frome''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|r|uː|m}} is a [[river]] in [[Dorset]] in the south of [[England]]. At 30 miles (48&nbsp;km) long it is the major [[chalkstream]] in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from [[Poole Harbour]] as far as the town of [[Wareham, Dorset|Wareham]].

==Geography==
The river [[source (river)|rises]] in the [[Dorset Downs]] at [[Evershot]], passes through [[Cattistock]], [[Maiden Newton]], [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]], [[West Stafford]] and [[Woodsford]]. At [[Wareham, Dorset|Wareham]] it and the parallel [[River Piddle]] flow into [[Poole Harbour]] via the Wareham Channel. The catchment area is {{cvt|181|sqmi}}, approximately one sixth of the county.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wallis |first1=Steve |title=River Frome: From Source to Sea |date=2014 |publisher=[[Amberley Publishing|Amberley]] |location=Stroud, England |isbn=9781445618043}}</ref> 

East of Dorchester the river runs over sands, clays and gravels which overlie the chalk; as the valley gradient is gentle the Frome has deposited much sediment here and thus created a broad [[floodplain]]. Historically this contained [[marshland|marshes]] and gave the name to the [[Durotriges]], ''water dwellers'', the [[Brittonic Peoples|Brittonic]] [[Celt]]ic tribe who inhabited Dorset. The river forms a wide, shallow [[ria]] at its estuary, Poole Harbour.

Prior to the end of the [[Last glacial period|last ice age]], the [[Purbeck Hills]] were continuous with the [[Isle of Wight]], and the Frome would have continued eastwards through what is now Poole Harbour and [[Poole Bay]] along [[the Solent]], collecting the [[River Stour, Dorset|Stour]]–[[River Avon, Hampshire|Avon]], [[Beaulieu River|Beaulieu]], and [[River Test|Test]]–[[River Itchen, Hampshire|Itchen]]–[[River Hamble|Hamble]] catchments, before emptying into the [[English Channel|Channel]] between [[Bembridge]] and [[Selsey Bill]].

==Human history==
At the end of the 1st century AD, the [[Roman Britain|Romans]] built a {{cvt|20|km}} [[Aqueduct (watercourse)|aqueduct]] to supply public fountains and public baths at their new town of [[Durnovaria]] (Dorchester).<ref name=inventory>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=127578|title='Roman Dorchester (Durnovaria)', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2: South East (1970), pp. 531-592|publisher=University of London & History of Parliament Trust|access-date=24 March 2014|date=November 2013}}</ref> Taking the form of a channel about 1.0&nbsp;m wide and 0.35&nbsp;m deep cut into the underlying chalk on an artificial terrace, lined and overlain with timber, the aqueduct took water from the Frome upstream at [[Nunnery Mead]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Manley |first1=Harry |last2=Cheetham |first2=Paul |last3=Stewart |first3=Dave |last4=Russell |first4=Miles |title=A Source of Confusion: New Archaeological Evidence for the Dorchester Aqueduct |journal=[[Britannia (journal)|Britannia]] |date=29 October 2024 |pages=1–15 |doi=10.1017/S0068113X24000254|doi-access=free }}</ref> near Notton (between modern-day [[Maiden Newton]] and [[Frampton, Dorset|Frampton]]) and closely followed the contours of the valley side to the southwest of the river.<ref name=inventory/><ref name=Otter>{{cite book|title=Southern England|publisher=Thomas Telford Ltd|year=1994|isbn=07277-1971-8|pages=133–4|editor=R. A. Otter|series=Civil Engineering Heritage|chapter=5, Dorset and South Wiltshire}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HG-l2kpKPFUC&q=durnovaria+aqueduct&pg=PA133|title=Southern England (Google Books)|isbn=9780727719713|access-date=24 March 2014|last1=Otter|first1=R. A.|year=1994}}</ref> Over its course the aqueduct only fell {{convert|25|ft|m}}, some {{convert|60|ft|m}} less than the river itself. It has been calculated that water would have reached Durnovaria at the rate of 8 million [[gallons]] per day.<ref name=Otter/> Some traces of the aqueduct terrace can still be seen at [[Bradford Peverell]] and on the Dorchester by-pass.

[[File:Dorset Wareham Frome Estuary.jpg|thumb|The Frome estuary at Wareham]]
The [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]] made frequent raids up the river. The town walls at Wareham were built in 876, possibly by [[Alfred the Great]], to defend the town against this threat.

Until the late 19th century the river was an important part of the trade route for the export of [[Purbeck Ball Clay]] from the [[Isle of Purbeck]]. Originally the clay was brought to wharves at Wareham by [[pack horse]] from the clay pits to the south. In around 1830 the [[Furzebrook Railway]] was built, connecting the pits to a wharf at [[Ridge, Dorset|Ridge]]. This route was eventually superseded by the use of the main line rail network, and eventually by road.

==Ecology==
The Frome has suffered a dramatic decline in the run of [[salmon]] in recent years. In 1988 over 4000 fish ran the river; by 2004 the run had fallen to 750 fish, and in 2023 to an estimated 443.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnvd6yejzpgo |title=River's salmon numbers at record low |publisher=BBC News |date=9 October 2024 }}</ref> The [[Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust]] is carrying out research at its Salmon & Trout Research Centre at [[East Stoke, Dorset|East Stoke]] into the decline of [[Atlantic Salmon]] to understand the causes and how to reverse the decline.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gwct.org.uk/fishing/research/salmon/atlantic-salmon-research-on-the-river-frome/ |title=Atlantic salmon research on the River Frome |publisher=Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust |access-date=12 February 2025 }}</ref>

== River level monitoring ==
There are river level monitoring stations on the River Frome at:

* Maiden Newton<ref>{{Cite web |title=River Frome level at Maiden Newton - GOV.UK |url=https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/station/3278 |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref>
* Louds Mill<ref>{{Cite web |title=River Frome level at Louds Mill - GOV.UK |url=https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/station/3277 |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Stinsford]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=River Frome level at Stinsford - GOV.UK |url=https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/station/3272 |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref>
* East Stoke<ref>{{Cite web |title=River Frome level at East Stoke - GOV.UK |url=https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/station/3275 |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*Other [[Frome (disambiguation)#Rivers|Rivers Frome]]
*[[Rivers of the United Kingdom]]
*[[Geology of Dorset]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*Map and aerial photo sources for: {{mmukscaled|ST575045|25|the source}} near [[Evershot]], source of the {{mmukscaled|ST520010|25|River Hooke}}, a tributary and {{mmukscaled|SY944875|25|the mouth}} in Poole Harbour.
*[http://www.gwct.org.uk/research__surveys/species_research/fish/salmon/1558.asp Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Wild Salmon Recovery Project]
*[http://www.riverfrome.com Frome, Piddle & West Dorset Fisheries Association]

{{Dorset}}
{{SSSIs Dorset biological}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Frome, River}}
[[Category:Isle of Purbeck]]
[[Category:Rivers of Dorset]]
[[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Dorset]]
[[Category:Poole Harbour catchment|1Frome]]