River Piddle - Definition

The River Piddle or Trent or North River is a small rural Dorset river which rises next to Alton Pancras church (Alton Pancras was originally named Awultune, a Saxon name meaning the village at the source of a river) and flows south and then south-easterly more or less parallel with its bigger sister, the River Frome, who it finally joins at Wareham, where they enter Poole Harbour.

Many of the villages it passes through are named after it: Puddletown, Tolpuddle, Piddlehinton, Piddletrenthide, Affpuddle, Briantspuddle, Turnerspuddle.

See also

• Rivers of the United Kingdom
• List of interesting or unusual place names

There is also a watercourse named "Piddle Brook" in Worcestershire; two villages, North Piddle and Wyre Piddle lie along its course before it joins the River Avon near Pershore. A small brewery about a mile away named itself after the nearby brook, with its sole product being "Piddle Beer".