River Tyburn
The River Tyburn was a stream (
Name
A charter of AD 959 appears to mention the river, which it refers to as Merfleot, which probably translates as Boundary Stream, a suggestion reinforced by context, with the river forming the western boundary of the estate described.[1] It is also mentioned in Edgar's Charter, dating from AD 951, where it is rendered as Teo-burna, a name which is thought to mean "two-burn". This may refer to the two branches of the Tyburn which passed through Marylebone and converged to the north of Oxford Street. Ekwall, writing in 1928, suggested that the name meant boundary stream as it followed a course between Lilestone manor and Tyburn manor, but this is now questioned, as both of the river banks were in Tyburn manor.[2]
The Tyburn is also known as the Aye and the Kings Scholars Pond Sewer,[3] though it has to be remembered that the word "sewer" originally referred to an open channel used for the drainage of surface water, and it was illegal to pollute them with offensive material prior to 1815.[4]
Course
Before it was
From its source at the Shepherd's Well near Fitzjohns Avenue in Hampstead its successor is Scholar's Pond Sewer southward along that avenue through the Swiss Cottage part of South Hampstead under Avenue Road to Regent's Park. To enter the park's perimeter the part-foul (combined) run is carried enpiped over the Regent's Canal then culverted.[7]
The Tyburn gave its name to the former area of
The stream's southward route followed Lansdowne Row, the north-east of Curzon Street then White Horse Street and the pedestrian avenue of Green Park to the front gates of Buckingham Palace (foot of Constitution Hill) from where one mouth used the depression of St James's Park Lake and Downing Street to reach two close-paired mouths. A third distributary is untraced in the building lines and street layout to Thorney Street close to Lambeth Bridge,[6] whilst a fourth distributary forms the natural collect for a 3-metre (9.8 ft) sewer pipe, King's Scholar's Pond Sewer, to the Victoria Embankment interceptor, saving it from discharging west of Vauxhall Bridge.
Maintenance
The Kings Scholars Pond Sewer was constructed between 1848 and 1856. When the
The solution adopted was to construct a Vierendeel truss within the existing sewer, fitted with a glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) liner. The entire structure was made of small modular parts, which could be fitted through a 24-by-30-inch (600 by 750 mm) access hole. When assembled, the structure would be longer than the railway tunnel width, so that its ends were supported by ground beyond the tunnel walls. Once all the components had been manufactured, installation work began in June 2018, and continued until October 2018. The scheme was managed by a joint venture comprising Skanska, MWH Treatment, and Balfour Beatty (SMB JV), with Stantec UK Ltd as a designer and McAllister Group carrying out the on-site work. The steel truss is expected to last for 120 years without maintenance, while the GFRP liner has a life span of 50 years.[12] The innovative nature of the solution resulted in the project being given a commendation by the Institution of Structural Engineers in 2021.[13]
See also
- Tributaries of the River Thames
- Subterranean rivers of London
- List of rivers in England
References
- ^ Naismith 2019, pp. 131–132.
- ^ Barton & Myers 2016, p. 54.
- ^ Halliday 2008, p. 26.
- ^ Halliday 2008, pp. 28–29.
- ISBN 978-0-948667-69-5.
- ^ a b c d "Illustrations 1, 4 and the webpage of the Walbrook River page - a synopsis". Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. It cites these books:
The Lost Rivers of London Nicholas Barton (1962)
Subterranean City Anthony Clayton (2000)
London Beneath the Pavement Michael Harrison (1961)
Springs, Streams, and Spas of London Alfred Stanley Foord (1910)
J. G. White, History of The Ward of Walbrook. (1904)
Andrew Duncan, Secret London. (6th Edition, 2009) - ^ ISBN 978-0-948667-15-2.
- ^ "Grays: The Lost River Tyburn". 2008. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
- ^ "Silent UK – Urban Exploration: River Tyburn". SilentUK.com. 2009. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- ^ "How To Catch A Glimpse Of The Lost River Tyburn". Londonist. 3 July 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ^ "King's Scholars Pond Sewer Rehabilitation". Stantec. 2019.
- ^ a b Hanfi & Edwards 2018.
- ^ "King's Scholars Pond Sewer Rehabilitation". Institution of Structural Engineers. 2023. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022.
Bibliography
- Barton, Nicholas; Myers, Stephen (2016). The Lost Rivers of London. Historical Publications. ISBN 978-1-905286-51-5.
- Halliday, Stephen (2008). The Great Stink of London. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-2580-8.
- Hanfi, Asad; Edwards, Neal (1 October 2018). "King's Scholars' Pond Sewer (2018)". Water Projects Online. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022.
- Naismith, Rory (2019). Citadel of the Saxons, the Rise of Early London. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-350-13568-0.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .
- Silent UK – Urban Exploration: River Tyburn (2009) at the Wayback Machine (archived 3 June 2013)