The Stour

Fontmell Brook

The Fontmell Brook in Dorset starts at Mill Bridge in Fontmell Magna (above the bridge, it is Collyer's Brook). Jacob's Brook joins it at Piper's Mill Bridge, and from there it runs into the Stour at Fontmall Parva.

On October 4th 1999, Mill Bridge in Fontmell Magna was the first bridge to be named as part of Common Ground's 'Naming of Brook and Bridge' project which aims to put the name of the rivers or brooks on the bridges which cross them, proposing that each river valley should have its own letter form, a kind of signature, so that you can tell which catchment you are in from the lettering on the bridges. You can read more about this on the Common Ground web-site at www . commonground . org . uk.

A 17th century pistol was found in the brook in 1998, but it is possible that it was the property of an antique firearms collector who had lived at Piper's Mill in the 1960s / 70s.

Ekwall suggests the name may be a compound of a pre-Saxon form of the Latin 'fontana' (a brook) with pre-Saxon 'mailo-' (a bare hill) - possibly referring to Fontmell Down.

The picture shows the wheel at Pegg's Mill.