Dark Water (river) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dark Water
Dark Water river and marsh, Lepe Country Park
Country	England
County	Hampshire
District	New Forest
Physical characteristics
Main source	North of the south limits of Dibden Purlieu with New Forest National Park 38 metres (125 ft) 50°50′52″N 1°24′26″W / 50.8478°N 1.4072°W / 50.8478; -1.4072
River mouth	Solent Lepe 0 metres 50°47′04″N 1°21′33″W / 50.7845°N 1.3592°W / 50.7845; -1.3592
Length	5.5 mi
Basin features
Progression	Dark Water, Beaulieu River estuary, Solent (off English Channel off Atlantic Ocean)
River system	Dark Water basin
Tributaries	Right: Stock Water

The Dark Water is a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) river in south-west Hampshire, England. It flows south from a source a few metres north-east of the New Forest, reaching the sea through the end of the Beaulieu River estuary, next to the Solent, at Lepe, part of the national park.

Its drainage basin reduces towards its mouth. It drains (with its main tributary, Stock Water) most of the largely heathland forest's "Beaulieu Heath". It then drains smaller Blackwell Common (the south of which was called Blackfield Common after neighbouring Blackfield). Then it drains the similar combined area: Horsemoor Copse, West Common (a meadow) and Chale Wood, below which narrow woods line one or both of the banks, beyond an inner marshy zone.