[1] In the 19th century, the river with its undeveloped catchment close to Birmingham, was selected to provide a source of clean drinking water for the city.

The river rises between Ansley Common and Birchley Heath, to the south west of Atherstone where it is shown in maps as the Bourne brook.

It then flows in a south-westerly direction past Church End to Ansley Mill where it is forded by a minor road.

Downstream of this confluence, the brook becomes the River Bourne; it is crossed by the Tamworth road, and turns in a north westerly direction, to flow past Slowley Hall, and the former location of Daw Mill Colliery.

[4][5] The various streams in the River Bourne catchment have all been classed at the lower end of the scale in terms of ecological quality under the Water Framework Directive.