The name Churn is ancient, certainly pre-Roman and probably has its origins in the Celtic language, spoken by the Dobunni tribe, who controlled the area before the Roman conquest in the 1st Century. The original name may have sounded similar to Korinn. It has been suggested that the origin of the word is associated with the ancient British Cornovii tribe.

Cognate names and name elements from the area are Cerney, Ciren and Corin as found in the villages of North Cerney, South Cerney, and Cerney Wick, modern Cirencester, and the Roman town name Corinium. All these places are on or close to the River Churn.

The Coln and the Thames both feed the waters of the Western component of the Cotswold Water Park, which is made up of redundant gravel beds and is situated between Cirencester and Cricklade.

Much of the catchment basin of the River Churn is known to have been an important Roman settlement area in the second to fourth centuries AD. Literature references in Ptolemy as well as architectural finds at Cirencester, Calcot Manor and other locations produce abundant evidence of not only settlement by also an advanced road system.

As of the year 2006 the national government is engaged in a planning study to analyse methods of mitigating future flooding associated with the River Churn.

See also

• Cornovii
• Riparian zone
• List of rivers in England

References