River Hooke

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The River Hooke is a small river in Dorset, England. It starts at Toller Whelme and flows for about 6 miles through the villages of Hooke, Kingcombe, Toller Porcorum and Toller Fratrum, before joining the River Frome at Maiden Newton. It used to be called the River Toller, a name likely from a Celtic word meaning hollow stream. The name Hooke probably comes from the Old English hoc, meaning a sharp bend in a stream, a feature that may have helped name the village of Hooke and then the river. The river runs between chalk hills (the Dorset Downs) but cuts down to greensand, creating springy, boggy patches along its course. In Hooke village, a very large spring once flowed from the hillside and was used for watercress. There are river level monitoring stations on the River Frome at Hooke.