According to Stow this stream ran down Fenchurch Street and Lombard Street to the west end of St. Mary Woolnoth Church, when turning south and breaking into small shares, rills or streams, "it left the name Share borne lane or South Borne lane as I have read because it ran south to the River of Thames" (S. 201). So called of the length thereof (S. 14).
There was no sign remaining of the brook in Stow's time and his derivation of the name seems to be purely mythical. There is no reason to suppose that there was ever a brook or stream running in this direction in this part of the City, and the levels along the streets do not indicate the existence of the bed of a stream.
The syllable "bourne" seems to be a later 13th century corruption of the early forms, "bord," "brod."