River Lea
Lea Lee | |
---|---|
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Leagrave, Luton |
• coordinates | 51°54′37″N 0°27′40″W / 51.910338°N 0.461233°W |
• elevation | 115 m (377 ft) |
Bow Creek, River Thames | |
• coordinates | 51°30′26″N 0°00′33″E / 51.5072°N 0.0092°E |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Length | 68 km (42 mi) |
Discharge | |
• location | Luton Hoo, Luton |
• average | 1.8 m3/s (64 cu ft/s) |
Discharge | |
• location | Feildes Weir, Hoddesdon |
• average | 4.3 m3/s (150 cu ft/s) |
Basin features | |
Designation | |
Official name | Lea Valley |
Designated | 9 October 2000 |
Reference no. | 1037[1] |
The River Lea (
The river's significance as a major east–west barrier and boundary has tended to obscure its importance as north–south trade route. Below Hertford the river has since medieval times had alterations made to make it more navigable for boats between the Thames and eastern Hertfordshire and Essex, known as the Lee Navigation. This stimulated much industry along its banks. The navigable River Stort, the main tributary, joins it at Hoddesdon.
While the lower Lea remains somewhat polluted, its upper stretch and tributaries, classified as chalk streams, are a major source of drinking water for London. An artificial waterway known as the New River, opened in 1613, abstracts clean water away from the upper stretch of the river near Hertford for drinking, and lower parts of the river are also abstracted from. The Lea's origin in the Chilterns contributes to the extreme hardness (high mineral content) of London tap water.[2]
Name
Etymology
The name of the River Lea was first recorded in the 9th century, although is believed to be much older. Spellings from the
Much of the middle Lea were historically known as 'Mereditch', the first element deriving from the Old English ‘gemaera’, meaning boundary. This was due to that section of the river’s role as the dividing line between territories, for instance separating Middlesex and Essex. By the 20th century 'Mereditch' had evolved to 'Mare Dyke' and referred to just one channel of the river between Chingford and Enfield. The channel was replaced by parts of the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain in the mid 20th century.[5][6]
The River Lea is the major component in a number of place-names, including Leagrave, the suburb of Luton where the source of the river is located, and of Luton and Leyton: both mean "farmstead on the River Lea".[7]
Spelling
The spelling Lea predominates west (upstream) of Hertford, but both spellings (Lea and Lee) are used from Hertford to the River Thames. The Lee Navigation was established by Acts of Parliament and only that spelling is used in this context. The Lee Valley Regional Park Authority also uses this spelling for leisure facilities. However, the spelling Lea is used for road names, locations and other infrastructure in the capital, such as Leamouth, Lea Bridge, the Lea Valley Walk and the Lea Valley lines (railway). This spelling is also used in geology, archaeology, etc. to refer to the Lea Valley.
Other uses
The term River Lea is
Natural boundary
The line of the Lea, and its major tributary, the Stort, has long been used as a political boundary. In the Iron Age the Lea and Stort valleys formed a hotly contested frontier zone between the Catuvellauni to the west and the eastern Trinovantes.[9] The two rivers are assumed to have been the boundary between the core territory of the Kingdom of the East Saxons and its Middle Saxon Province.[10] The whole of the Lea was subsequently used as the boundary between English-ruled territory to the west and the Danelaw, established in the late 9th century, to the east.
From around the ninth or tenth century, and the establishment of counties in this part of England, the Lea-Stort line has formed the historic boundary between Essex to the east and Hertfordshire and Middlesex to the west. Within London the river is always used as a boundary between London Boroughs - which in turn inherit more ancient county and parish boundaries which also used the Lea as a boundary. Between 1889 and 1965, the lower Lea was the eastern boundary of the County of London with Essex.[11]
When reviewing the boundaries of London's parliamentary constituencies, the Boundary Commission treats the Thames and Lea as London's major internal barriers. It will not allow a new or altered constituency that spans either river, viewing such a construct as artificial and not reflective of local communities or identities. They have compromised on this further south, on the lower Lea, where the quality and quantity of cross-lea links is much greater, and the communities on either side better integrated as a result.[12]
Course
Upper Lea
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The
After passing through Luton, the young river passes through the Luton Hoo estate and six miles from its source, enters Hertfordshire. The river then flows east-south-east by way of Harpenden, Wheathampstead - once capital of the Catuvellauni tribe, through the narrow green gap between the new towns of Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City, onto the county town of Hertford.
Middle Lea
At Hertford the shallow river turns briefly north before turning to head due south, the few miles/kilometres between Hertford and the confluence with its largest tributary - the Stort - sees the river and its surrounding areas undergo a number of fundamental changes. The river receives a number of major tributaries; the Mimram, Beane, Rib, Ash and then the River Stort.
The extra volume of water has created a broad flood plain with sometimes steep hills on either side. The river passes through this valley in several channels, which are a result of both human intervention and natural causes. The increased flow made the river navigable from Hertford, a situation improved by the creation of the Lee Navigation, a deep canal which begins at Hertford Castle Weir.
The Stort, the most important tributary of the Lea, joins a short distance from Hertford at
Just after Hertford, the river passes the medieval river port of Ware and the Hertfordshire bank soon becomes entirely developed. On the west bank the river passes Hoddesdon, Broxbourne and Cheshunt in Hertfordshire; then Enfield, Edmonton, Tottenham and Tottenham Marshes in north London. On the eastern side the river passes Waltham Abbey on the largely rural Essex bank, and then Chingford and Walthamstow in east London.
For many miles/kilometres below Hertford the river is lined by lakes; to the north these are primarily flooded former gravel pits but in London these are reservoirs: the 13 reservoirs of the
Lower Lea
On
The river was historically tidal as far as Hackney Wick, but now the tide is held back by Bow Locks between Bromley-by-Bow and West Ham. Although watercraft can follow the Lea down to the Thames, it is generally more practical to follow the Limehouse Cut (which meets the Lea at Bow Locks) down the Limehouse Basin, using the Limehouse Basin Lock to join the Thames.
The communities on the west side of the lower Lea include
River history
Crossings
In the
In 1110,
Lea Bridge, the second bridge over the lower Lea was built after 1757, to replace the pre-existing ferry.[14] It connected Clapton to the west, and Leyton and Walthamstow to the east. The Iron Bridge carrying the Barking Road over the river to Canning Town was built in 1810. There are significantly more crossings over the more central Lower Lea, than there are over the Middle Lea.[15]
Trade and industry
During the
The River Lea flows through the old brewing and
The extensive level of waterborne trade led the historian John Stow, writing in 1603, to describe the Lea as “this pleasant and useful river”.[17]
The riverside has hosted a number of major armaments manufacturers, such as the
Management of the river
Improvements were made to the river from 1424, with tolls being levied to compensate the landowners, and in 1571, there were riots after the extension of the River was promoted in a private bill presented to the
The New River was constructed in 1613 to take clean water to London, from the Lea and its catchment areas in Hertfordshire and bypass the polluting industries that had developed in the Lea's downstream reaches.[19] The artificial channel further reduced the flow to the natural river and by 1767 locks were installed below Hertford Castle Weir on the canalised part of the Lea, now the Lee Navigation with further locks and canalisation taking place during the succeeding centuries. In 1766, work also began on the Limehouse Cut to connect the river, at Bromley-by-Bow, with the Thames at Limehouse Basin.[19]
The
In January 2024, the River Lea burst it's banks as Hackney Wick residents tell of 'knee-high' flood water. [21]
War and conflict
Millfields Park on the Lea at
Somewhere between 878 and 890, the
In 1216, during the First Barons' War, the future Louis VIII of France besieged Hertford Castle for a month, leading to its surrender. He only held the castle for a relatively short time as he lost the war soon after.[25]
In 1648 during the
During WWI, parts of London on either side of the Lea were badly hit by German Army and Navy airship raids. It is believed the crews mistook the extensive reservoir chain for the Thames and released their bombs on what they took to be central London.[27]
Environmental issues
The ecological, landscape and recreational importance of the river and its surrounding land has been recognised through inclusion in a number of parks and by several planning policy designations.
Management and designations
Much of the river lies within the Lee Valley Park. Some of the land surrounding the river has been designated as Metropolitan Green Belt or Metropolitan Open Land in order to prevent further urbanisation.
Wildlife
The river contains fish and other wildlife such as the occasional seal.[28]
Some boat trippers reported observing on 5 August 2005 a
In 2011, Mike Wells claimed that he saw a "goose go vertically down" in the river. Again a pike or
Pollution
The river is threatened by pollution, with sewage frequently discharged into the river as well as less common events causing major damage, such as an oil leak in 2018,[32] or the toxic runoff from a warehouse fire in 2019.[33] The sewage pollution, as well as that of fertiliser washed in from agricultural fields causes eutrophication, an excess of nutrients, which not only unbalances the ecosystem, but also leads to de-oxygenation of the water.
Dumping, litter and microplastics are a major problem on the Lea with much of this waste arriving in the river in sewage.[34] In April 2021, Hackney Council wrote to the Environment Agency calling for action to address sewage discharge and pollution in the river.[35] In November 2021, local volunteers stated they were removing 100kg of plastic pollution from the Lower Lea every month.[36]
Water extraction, for drinking water, farming and industry, has led to a reduction in river flow impacting wildlife and concentrating the pollutants present in the remaining river water.
Projects such as that led by
Sport
In their early days,
The 2012 Olympics was focused in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on the banks of the Lea, and its main Stadium, on an island between two branches of the river, is now home to West Ham United. The Lee Valley White Water Centre in Hertfordshire is another sporting legacy of the games.
Narrative accounts
London Bridge Is Falling Down
Various versions of the nursery rhyme
London Bridge is broken down,
Dance over the Lady Lea;
London Bridge is broken down,
With a gay lay-dee.
There are a
Other
The poem A Tale of Two Swannes is set along the River Lea. It was written by William Vallans and published in 1590.[40]
The old course of the river is the one featured in the early chapters of the classic fishing book The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton. The author begins at Tottenham and proceeds upriver from there.
A guide to walking along the river valley was written by Leigh Hatts,[41] and an account of a walk along the complete length of the river in 2009 was published as a blog by "Diamond Geezer".[42]
In 2014, German writer Esther Kinsky published a novel, Am Fluß, now available in English as River, translated by Iain Galbraith,[43] based around her walks along the lower Lea from the marina at Horseshoe Point to the river's mouth where it joins the Thames.
In 2015, singer-songwriter Adele dedicated a track to the river on her third studio album, 25.[citation needed]
Notable fisheries
Tributaries
- For a full list of tributaries, please expand the box entitled 'River Lea / Lee, England' at the bottom of this page.
See also
- List of dams and reservoirs in the United Kingdom
- List of rivers of England
- Tributaries of the River Thames
- Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum
References
- ^ "Lee Valley". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ "EC1A 7BE — Water quality in your area". Thames Water. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- ^ J.E.B. Glover, Allen Mawer, F.M.Stenton (1938). The Place-Names of Hertfordshire. Cambridge University Press.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ISBN 0-19-280106-6.
- ^ Place Names of Essex, p9, PH Reany, English Place-Name Society, Volume 12
- ^ Place names of Middlesex, p5, Allen Mawer and FM Stenton, English Place-Name Society, Volume 18
- ^ Mills, A.D. (1991). The Popular Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Phaidon.
- ^ Brewers Dictionary of London Phrase and Fable, Russ Willey, 2009
- ^ The Trinovantes, by Rosalind Dunnett, Chapter 1, 1975, Gerald Duckworth and Co Ltd
- ^ The boundary is unknown and discussed in "Kingdom, Civitas and County" by Stephen Rippon, Oxford University Press
- ^ "The Builder map of the county of London - Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center". collections.leventhalmap.org. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
- ^ "2018 Boundary Commission Report" (PDF).
- ^ Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998). "Bethnal Green: Communications". A History of the County of Middlesex. 11: 88–90. Retrieved 15 November 2006.
- ^ W R Powell, ed. (1973). "Leyton: Introduction". A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6. London. pp. 174–184. Retrieved 27 July 2021 – via British History Online.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ W R Powell, ed. (1973). "West Ham: Rivers, bridges, wharfs and docks". in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6. London. pp. 57–61 – via British History Online.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Ware – The Story so Far – 3 of 3". Ware Online. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
- ^ "John Strype's Survey of London Online". www.dhi.ac.uk.
- ^ "William Vallans: A Tale of Two Swannes". spenserians.cath.vt.edu. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
- ^ a b "River Lee History". Enfield.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2007.
- ^ Milestone 5 Archived 12 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine demolish, dig, design January 2008 (The Olympic Delivery Authority) accessed 25 April 2008
- ^ Mata, William (5 January 2024). "Hackney Wick residents tell of 'knee-high' flood water as scale of damage emerges". Evening Standard. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- OCLC 905859382.
- ISBN 0-7153-8079-6.
- ^ "The River Lea - King Alfred and the Vikings". The King Alfred Blog. 16 October 2019.
- ^ "The borough of Hertford: Castle, honour, manors, church and charities | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.
- ^ Covered briefly in The English Civil War, A Peoples History. Diane Purkiss. p534-6
- ^ London 1914-17 The Zeppelin Menace, Ian Castle. Osprey Publishing 2008
- ^ "Moment playful seal is spotted catching fish in London's River Lea". Evening Standard. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
- ^ "Boat trip fuels 'river croc' tale". BBC. 5 August 2005. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ "Goose-killer lurks in River Lea". BBC. 13 December 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ Haddow, Joshua (29 May 2012). "Hunting for the Olympics River Monster". Vice. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ Alwakeel, Ramzy (20 February 2018). "River Lea oil spill: Boats stopped between Tottenham and Hackney Wick to contain pollution outbreak one week on". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
- ^ Gelder, Sam (28 May 2019). "Investigation launched after 'hundreds' of dead fish spotted in River Lea by Clapton boaters". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
- ^ "River Lea at Hackney Marshes filled with plastic rubbish | Hackney Gazette". 19 March 2021.
- ^ "Town Hall 'demands action' from Environment Agency to clean up River Lea". Hackney Citizen. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "Campaigners call for action on 'jaw-dropping' amount of pollution in River Lea". Hackney Citizen. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "Project Reedbeds". 8 September 2023.
- ^ John Clark London Bridge and the archaeology 4 of a nurserv rhvme
- ^ Peter and Iona Opie, (1985). The Singing Game. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 61–72. ISBN 0192840193.
- ^ English Poetry 1579–1830, William Vallans:A Tale of Two Swannes.
- ISBN 978-1-85284-522-3.
- ^ Diamond Geezer, Walking the Lea Valley, with more photos on flickr.
- ISBN 978-1-91069-529-6
External links
- Peter Marshall, The Lea Valley, photographs from 1980 to 2008
- UK Urban Exploration Forums, River Lea through Luton Archived 7 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, photos of the underground culvert in March 2009
- Trolling for Pike in the River Lee, 1831, by James Pollard at Tate Britain
- Fly Fishing in the River Lee near the Ferry Boat Inn, 1831, by James Pollard at Tate Britain
- Love the Lea project
- Wikipaddle: River Lea (Hertford Loop) article from a kayaking and canoeing perspective