River Dun

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[edit] England

There are two waterways in England known as the River Dun, both rising in Wiltshire.

The northern River Dun rises near Great Bedwyn and flows north-east into Berkshire as a tributary of the River Kennet at Hungerford, ultimately draining to the North Sea via the Thames. Its valley is the route by which the Kennet and Avon Canal enters the Thames basin from the Vale of Pewsey (crossing the watershed with the assistance of the Bruce Tunnel and the Crofton Pumping Station), and is also followed by the main line railway from London to the south-west.
The southern River Dun rises to the south-east of Salisbury near West Grimstead and flows east into Hampshire as a tributary of the River Test at Kimbridge, ultimately draining to the Solent. Its valley is followed by the Southampton to Salisbury railway.

[edit] Northern Ireland

The River Dun (in Irish: Abhann Duinne) translates into English as brown river and is a river which runs through Glendun, one of the nine Glens of Antrim in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The river is named after its brown colour, which comes from the peat bogs at its source on the slopes of Slevenanee on the Antrim Plateau. The source of the River Dun is a few hundred metres from that of the River Bush which flows north-east to meet the sea at Bushmills The river supports a population of brown trout which rarely attain weights exceeding one pound due to the naturally acidic chemistry of the water. Sea trout and salmon enter the river and make their way to the upstream spawning beds from July onwards. Eels are also present. The river is spanned by a three arched viaduct completed by Charles Lanyon in 1839^[1].