Christchurch is a borough and town in the county of Dorset on the English Channel coast, adjoining Bournemouth in the west, with the New Forest to the east. Historically in Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of local government in 1974 and is the most easterly borough in the county. The town, thought to have existed since around 650 AD, is at the lowest crossing point of two rivers, Avon and Stour. The original Old English name, Twynam or Twyneham, from "tweon eam", means (the settlement) between two rivers.