River Thames
River Thames | |
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Proto-Celtic *tamēssa, possibly meaning "dark" | |
Location | |
Country | England |
Counties | Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Greater London, Kent, Essex |
Towns/cities | Cricklade, Lechlade, Oxford, Abingdon, Wallingford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Staines-upon-Thames, Walton-on-Thames, Sunbury-on-Thames, Kingston upon Thames, London (inc. Twickenham, the City), Dagenham, Erith, Dartford, Grays, Gravesend |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Thames Head, Gloucestershire, UK |
• coordinates | 51°41′40″N 02°01′47″W / 51.69444°N 2.02972°W |
• elevation | 110 m (360 ft) |
2nd source | |
• location | Ullenwood, Gloucestershire, UK |
• coordinates | 51°50′49″N 02°04′41″W / 51.84694°N 2.07806°W |
• elevation | 214 m (702 ft) |
Mouth | Thames Estuary, North Sea |
• location | Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK |
• coordinates | 51°30′00″N 00°36′36″E / 51.50000°N 0.61000°E |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Length | 346 km (215 mi) |
Basin size | 12,935 km2 (4,994 sq mi) |
Discharge | |
• location | London |
• average | 65.8 m3/s (2,320 cu ft/s) |
• maximum | 370 m3/s (13,000 cu ft/s) |
Discharge | |
• location | entering Oxford |
• average | 17.6 m3/s (620 cu ft/s) |
Discharge | |
• location | leaving Oxford |
• average | 24.8 m3/s (880 cu ft/s) |
Discharge | |
• location | Reading, Berkshire |
• average | 39.7 m3/s (1,400 cu ft/s) |
Discharge | |
• location | Windsor |
• average | 59.3 m3/s (2,090 cu ft/s) |
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The River Thames (/tɛmz/ ⓘ TEMZ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.
The river rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire and flows into the North Sea near Tilbury, Essex and Gravesend, Kent, via the Thames Estuary. From the west, it flows through Oxford (where it is sometimes called the Isis), Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The Thames also drains the whole of Greater London.[1]
The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. Its tidal section includes most of its London stretch and has a rise and fall of 23 ft (7 m). From Oxford to the estuary, the Thames drops by 55 metres (180 ft). Running through some of the drier parts of mainland Britain and heavily abstracted for drinking water, the Thames' discharge is low considering its length and breadth: the Severn has a discharge almost twice as large on average despite having a smaller drainage basin. In Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the Thames' average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller.
Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs. Its catchment area covers a large part of south-eastern and a small part of western England; the river is fed by at least 50 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands. With its waters varying from freshwater to almost seawater, the Thames supports a variety of wildlife and has a number of adjoining Sites of Special Scientific Interest, with the largest being in the North Kent Marshes and covering 20.4 sq mi (5,289 ha).[2]
Name
Brittonic origin
According to Mallory and Adams, the Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic name for the river, Tamesas (from *tamēssa),[3] recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys "Thames".
The name element Tam may have meant "dark" and can be compared to other
Kenneth H. Jackson proposed that the name of the Thames is not Indo-European (and of unknown meaning),[5] while Peter Kitson suggested that it is Indo-European but originated before the Britons and has a name indicating "muddiness" from a root *tā-, 'melt'.[6]
Name history
Early variants of the name include:
- Tamesa (Brittonic)[4]
- Tamesis (Latin)[4]
- Tamis, Temes (Old English)[4]
- Tamise, Thamis (1220) (Middle English, Anglo-Norman French)[c]
Indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name "Thames" is provided by a Roman
The river's name has always been pronounced with a simple t /t/; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese and the Brittonic form Tamesis. A similar spelling from 1210, "Tamisiam" (the accusative case of "Tamisia"; see Kingston upon Thames § Early history), is found in Magna Carta.[8]
The Isis
The Thames through Oxford is sometimes[when?] called the Isis. Historically, and especially in Victorian times, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the Isis from its source down to Dorchester on Thames and that only from this point, where the river meets the Thame and becomes the "Thame-isis" (supposedly subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so called.[citation needed] Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as "River Thames or Isis" down to Dorchester. Since the early 20th century this distinction has been lost in common usage outside of Oxford, and some historians [who?] suggest the name Isis is nothing more than a truncation of Tamesis, the Latin name for the Thames. Sculptures titled Tamesis and Isis by Anne Seymour Damer are located on the bridge at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (the original terracotta and plaster models were exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, in 1785. They are now[when?] on show at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley).[9]
Name legacy
Richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *(p)lowonida. This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium, from the Indo-European roots *pleu- "flow" and *-nedi "river" meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river.[10][11]
The river gives its name to three informal areas: the
History
Marks of human activity, in some cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river. These include a variety of structures connected with use of the river, such as navigations, bridges and watermills, as well as prehistoric burial mounds.
The lower Thames in the Roman era was a shallow waterway winding through marshes. But centuries of human intervention have transformed it into a deep tidal canal flowing between 200 miles of solid walls; these defend a floodplain where 1.5 million people work and live.
A major maritime route is formed for much of its length for shipping and supplies: through the Port of London for international trade, internally along its length and by its connection to the British canal system. The river's position has put it at the centre of many events in British history, leading to it being described by John Burns as "liquid history".
Two broad canals link the river to other rivers: the Kennet and Avon Canal (Reading to Bath) and the Grand Union Canal (London to the Midlands). The Grand Union effectively bypassed the earlier, narrow and winding Oxford Canal which remains open as a popular scenic recreational route. Three further cross-basin canals are disused but are in various stages of reconstruction: the Thames and Severn Canal (via Stroud), which operated until 1927 (to the west coast of England), the Wey and Arun Canal to Littlehampton, which operated until 1871 (to the south coast), and the Wilts & Berks Canal.
Rowing and sailing clubs are common along the Thames, which is navigable to such vessels. Kayaking and canoeing also take place. Major annual events include the Henley Royal Regatta and the Boat Race, while the Thames has been used during two Summer Olympic Games: 1908 (rowing) and 1948 (rowing and canoeing). Safe headwaters and reaches are a summer venue for organised swimming, which is prohibited on safety grounds in a stretch centred on Central London.
Conversion of marshland
After the river took its present-day course, many of the banks of the
Until the middle of the Victorian era, malaria was commonplace beside the River Thames, even in London, and was frequently lethal. Some cases continued to occur into the early 20th century. Draining of the marshes had to do with its eradication, but the causes are complex and unclear.
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, was the area of London east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames, although it is not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries; the River Lea can be considered another boundary.[13] Most of the local riverside was also marshland. The land was drained and became farmland; it was built on after the Industrial Revolution.
Canvey Island in southern Essex (area 18.45 km2, 7.12 sq mi; population 40,000[14]) was once marshy, but is now a fully reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, separated from the mainland of south Essex by a network of creeks. Lying below sea level, it is prone to flooding at exceptional tides, but has nevertheless been inhabited since Roman times.
Course
The usually quoted source of the Thames is at Thames Head (at grid reference ST980994). This is about 3⁄4 mi (1.2 km)[15] north of Kemble parish church in southern Gloucestershire, near the town of Cirencester, in the Cotswolds.[16] However, Seven Springs near Cheltenham, where the Churn (which feeds into the Thames near Cricklade) rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source,[17][18] as this location is farthest from the mouth and adds some 14 mi (23 km) to the river's length. At Seven Springs above the source is a stone with the Latin hexameter inscription "Hic tuus o Tamesine pater septemgeminus fons", which means "Here, O Father Thames, [is] your sevenfold source".[19]
The springs at Seven Springs flow throughout the year, while those at Thames Head are seasonal (a winterbourne). With a length of 215 mi (346 km),[20] the Thames is the longest river entirely in England. (The longest river in the United Kingdom, the Severn, flows partly in Wales.) However, as the River Churn, sourced at Seven Springs, is 14 mi (23 km) longer than the section of the Thames from its traditional source at Thames Head to the confluence, the overall length of the Thames measured from Seven Springs, at 229 mi (369 km), is greater than the Severn's length of 220 mi (350 km).[21] Thus, the "Churn/Thames" river may be regarded as the longest natural river in the United Kingdom. The stream from Seven Springs is joined at Coberley by a longer tributary which could further increase the length of the Thames, with its source in the grounds of the National Star College at Ullenwood.
The Thames flows through or alongside Ashton Keynes, Cricklade, Lechlade, Oxford, Abingdon-on-Thames, Wallingford, Goring-on-Thames and Streatley (at the Goring Gap), Pangbourne and Whitchurch-on-Thames, Reading, Wargrave, Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton, Staines-upon-Thames and Egham, Chertsey, Shepperton, Weybridge, Sunbury-on-Thames, Walton-on-Thames, Molesey and Thames Ditton. The river was subject to minor redefining and widening of the main channel around Oxford, Abingdon and Marlow before 1850, when further cuts to ease navigation reduced distances further.
Molesey faces Hampton, and in Greater London the Thames passes Hampton Court Palace, Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, Teddington, Twickenham, Richmond (with a famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), Syon House, Kew, Brentford, Chiswick, Barnes, Hammersmith, Fulham, Putney, Wandsworth, Battersea and Chelsea. In central London, the river passes Pimlico and Vauxhall, and then forms one of the principal axes of the city, from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower of London. At this point, it historically formed the southern boundary of the medieval city, with Southwark, on the opposite bank, then being part of Surrey.
Beyond central London, the river passes
Sea level
The sea level in the Thames estuary is rising and the rate of rise is increasing.[22][23]
Sediment cores up to 10 m deep collected by the British Geological Survey from the banks of the tidal River Thames contain geochemical information and fossils which provide a 10,000-year record of sea-level change.[24] Combined, this and other studies suggest that the Thames sea-level has risen more than 30 m during the Holocene at a rate of around 5–6 mm per year from 10,000 to 6,000 years ago.[24] The rise of sea level dramatically reduced when the ice melt nearly concluded[clarification needed] over the past 4,000 years. Since the beginning of the 20th century, rates of sea level rise range from 1.22 mm per year to 2.14 mm per year.[24]
Catchment area and discharge
The Thames River Basin[25] District, including the Medway catchment, covers an area of 6,229 sq mi (16,130 km2).[26] The entire river basin is a mixture of urban and rural, with rural landscape predominating in the western part. The area is among the driest in the United Kingdom. Water resources consist of groundwater from aquifers and water taken from the Thames and its tributaries, much of it stored in large bank-side reservoirs.[26]
The Thames itself provides two-thirds of London's drinking water, while groundwater supplies about 40 per cent of public water supplies in the overall catchment area. Groundwater is an important water source, especially in the drier months, so maintaining its quality and quantity is extremely important. Groundwater is vulnerable to surface pollution, especially in highly urbanised areas.[26]
Non-tidal section
Brooks, canals and rivers, within an area of 3,842 sq mi (9,951 km2),
In descending order, non-related tributaries of the non-tidal Thames, with river status, are the
Its longest artificial secondary channel (cut), the Jubilee River, was built between Maidenhead and Windsor for flood relief and completed in 2002.[28][29]
The non-tidal section of the river is managed by the
Tidal section
Below Teddington Lock (about 55 mi or 89 km upstream of the Thames Estuary), the river is subject to tidal activity from the North Sea. Before the lock was installed, the river was tidal as far as Staines, about 16 mi (26 km) upstream.[33] London, capital of Roman Britain, was established on two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill. These provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames.[34]
A river crossing was built at the site of
The principal
This part of the river is managed by the Port of London Authority. The flood threat here comes from high tides and strong winds from the North Sea, and the Thames Barrier was built in the 1980s to protect London from this risk.
Islands
The River Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey and Canvey Island to small tree-covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire and Headpile Eyot in Berkshire. They are found all the way from Fiddler's Island in Oxfordshire to the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Some of the largest inland islands, for example Formosa Island near Cookham and Andersey Island at Abingdon, were created naturally when the course of the river divided into separate streams.
In the Oxford area the river splits into several streams across the
Islands of historical interest include
Geology
Researchers have identified the River Thames as a discrete drainage line flowing as early as 58 million years ago, in the
At this time the river-system headwaters lay in the English
Ice age
About 450,000 years ago, in the most extreme
It dammed the river in Hertfordshire, resulting in the formation of large ice lakes, which eventually burst their banks and caused the river to divert onto its present course through the area of present-day London.
The ice lobe which stopped at present-day Finchley deposited about 14 metres of boulder clay there.[39] Its torrent of meltwater gushed through the Finchley Gap and south towards the new course of the Thames, and proceeded to carve out the Brent Valley in the process.[40]
The Anglian ice advance resulted in a new course for the Thames through
Most of the bedrock of the Vale of Aylesbury comprises clay and chalk that formed at the end of the ice age and at one time was under the Proto-Thames. At this time the vast underground reserves of water formed that make the water table higher than average in the Vale of Aylesbury.[42]
At the height of the
Upon the valley sides of the Thames and some of its tributaries can be seen other terraces of
The steepness of some valley sides indicates very much lower
The original land surface was around 350 to 400 ft (110 to 120 m) above the current sea-level. The surface had sandy deposits from an ancient sea, laid over sedimentary clay (this is the blue London Clay). All the erosion down from this higher land surface, and the sorting action by these changes of water flow and direction, formed what is known as the Thames River Gravel Terraces.
Since Roman times and perhaps earlier, the
Wildlife
Various species of birds feed off the river or nest on it, some being found both at sea and inland. These include
Non-native geese that can be seen include
The Thames contains both sea water and fresh water, thus providing support for seawater and freshwater fish. However, many populations of fish are at risk and are being killed in tens of thousands because of pollutants leaking into the river from human activities.
On 5 August 1993, the largest non-tidal salmon in recorded history was caught close to
Aquatic mammals are also known to inhabit the Thames. The population of
On 20 January 2006, a 16–18 ft (4.9–5.5 m) northern
Human history
The River Thames has played several roles in human history: as an economic resource, a maritime route, a boundary, a fresh water source, a source of food and more recently a leisure facility. In 1929, John Burns, one-time MP for Battersea, responded to an American's unfavourable comparison of the Thames with the Mississippi by coining the expression "The Thames is liquid history".
There is evidence of human habitation living off the river along its length dating back to Neolithic times.[49] The British Museum has a decorated bowl (3300–2700 BC), found in the river at Hedsor, Buckinghamshire, and a considerable amount of material was discovered during the excavations of Dorney Lake.[50] A number of Bronze Age sites and artefacts have been discovered along the banks of the river including settlements at Lechlade, Cookham and Sunbury-on-Thames.[51]
So extensive have the changes to this landscape been that what little evidence there is of man's presence before the ice came has inevitably shown signs of transportation here by water and reveals nothing specifically local. Likewise, later evidence of occupation, even since the arrival of the Romans, may lie next to the original banks of the Brent but have been buried under centuries of silt.[51]
Roman Britain
Some of the earliest written references to the Thames (
Starting in AD 43, under the
The next Roman bridges upstream were at Staines on the Devil's Highway between Londinium and Calleva (Silchester). Boats could be swept up to it on the rising tide, with no need for wind or muscle power.
Middle Ages
A Romano-British settlement grew up north of the confluence, partly because the site was naturally protected from attack on the east side by the River Cherwell and on the west by the River Thames. This settlement dominated the pottery trade in what is now central southern England, and pottery was distributed by boats on the Thames and its tributaries.
Competition for the use of the river created the centuries-old conflict between those who wanted to dam the river to build millraces and fish traps and those who wanted to travel and carry goods on it. Economic prosperity and the foundation of wealthy monasteries by the Anglo-Saxons attracted unwelcome visitors and by around AD 870 the Vikings were sweeping up the Thames on the tide and creating havoc as in their destruction of Chertsey Abbey.
Once
Another major consequence of John's reign was the completion of the multi-piered
.As early as the 1300s, the Thames was used to dispose of waste matter produced in the city of London, thus turning the river into an open sewer. In 1357,
The growth of the population of London greatly increased the amount of waste that entered the river, including human excrement, animal waste from slaughter houses, and waste from manufacturing processes. According to historian Peter Ackroyd, "a public lavatory on London Bridge showered its contents directly onto the river below, and latrines were built over all the tributaries that issued into the Thames."[53]
Early modern period
During a series of cold winters the Thames froze over above London Bridge: in the first
In good conditions, barges travelled daily from Oxford to London carrying timber, wool, foodstuffs and livestock. The stone from the
By the 18th century, the Thames was one of the world's busiest waterways, as London became the centre of the vast, mercantile British Empire, and progressively over the next century the docks expanded in the Isle of Dogs and beyond. Efforts were made to resolve the navigation conflicts upstream by building locks along the Thames. After temperatures began to rise again, starting in 1814, the river stopped freezing over.[54] The building of a new London Bridge in 1825, with fewer piers (pillars) than the old, allowed the river to flow more freely and prevented it from freezing over in cold winters.[55]
Throughout early modern history the population of London and its industries discarded their rubbish in the river.[56] This included the waste from slaughterhouses, fish markets, and tanneries. The buildup in household cesspools could sometimes overflow, especially when it rained, and was washed into London's streets and sewers which eventually led to the Thames.[57] In the late 18th and 19th centuries people known as mudlarks scavenged in the river mud for a meagre living.
Victorian era
In the 19th century the quality of water in the Thames deteriorated further. The discharge of raw
There followed a concerted effort to contain the city's sewage by constructing massive sewer systems on the north and south river embankments, under the supervision of engineer Joseph Bazalgette. Meanwhile, there were similar huge projects to ensure the water supply: reservoirs and pumping stations were built on the river to the west of London, slowly helping the quality of water to improve.
The
20th century
The growth of
In the post-war era, although the Port of London remains one of the UK's three main ports, most trade has moved downstream from central London. In the late 1950s, the discharge of methane gas in the depths of the river caused the water to bubble, and the toxins wore away at boats' propellers.[61]
The decline of heavy industry and tanneries, reduced use of oil-pollutants and improved sewage treatment have led to much better water quality compared to the late 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries and aquatic life has returned to its formerly 'dead' stretches.
Alongside the entire river runs the Thames Path, a National Route for walkers and cyclists.
In the early 1980s a pioneering flood control device, the Thames Barrier, was opened. It is closed to tides several times a year to prevent water damage to London's low-lying areas upstream (the 1928 Thames flood demonstrated the severity of this type of event).
In the late 1990s, the 7 mi (11 km) long Jubilee River was built as a wide "naturalistic" flood relief channel from Taplow to Eton to help reduce the flood risk in Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton,[62] although it appears to have increased flooding in the villages immediately downstream.
21st century
In 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world: the $350,000 International Riverprize.[63]
In August 2022, the first few miles of the river dried up due to the previous month's heatwave, and the source of the river temporarily moved five miles to beyond Somerford Keynes.[64]
The active river
One of the major resources provided by the Thames is the water distributed as drinking water by Thames Water, whose area of responsibility covers the length of the River Thames. The Thames Water Ring Main is the main distribution mechanism for water in London, with one major loop linking the Hampton, Walton, Ashford and Kempton Park Water Treatment Works with central London.
In the past, commercial activities on the Thames included fishing (particularly eel trapping), coppicing willows and osiers which provided wood and baskets, and the operation of watermills for flour and paper production and metal beating. These activities have largely disappeared.
The Thames is popular for a wide variety of riverside housing, including high-rise flats in central London and chalets on the banks and islands upstream. Some people live in houseboats, typically around Brentford and Tagg's Island.
Transport and tourism
Tidal river
In London there are many sightseeing tours in tourist boats, past riverside attractions such as the
Upper river
The leisure navigation and sporting activities on the river have given rise to a number of businesses including boatbuilding, marinas, ships chandlers and salvage services.
In summer, passenger services operate along the entire non-tidal river from Oxford to Teddington. The two largest operators are Salters Steamers and French Brothers. Salters operate services between Folly Bridge, Oxford and Staines. The whole journey takes four days and requires several changes of boat.[65] French Brothers operate passenger services between Maidenhead and Hampton Court.[66] Along the course of the river a number of smaller private companies also offer river trips at Oxford, Wallingford, Reading and Hampton Court.[67] Many companies also provide boat hire on the river.
Cable car
The
Police and lifeboats
The river is policed by five police forces. The
As a result of the
The Thames is maintained for navigation by powered craft from the estuary as far as Lechlade in Gloucestershire and for very small craft to Cricklade. The original towpath extends upstream from Putney Bridge as far as the connection with the now disused Thames and Severn Canal at Inglesham, one and a half miles upstream of the last boat lock near Lechlade. From Teddington Lock to the head of navigation, the navigation authority is the Environment Agency. Between the sea and Teddington Lock, the river forms part of the Port of London and navigation is administered by the Port of London Authority. Both the tidal river through London and the non-tidal river upstream are intensively used for leisure navigation.
The non-tidal River Thames is divided into reaches by the 45
The tidal river is navigable to large ocean-going ships as far upstream as the
at Brentford.Upstream of Wandsworth Bridge a speed limit of 8 kn (15 km/h) is in force for powered craft to protect the riverbank environment and to provide safe conditions for rowers and other river users. There is no absolute speed limit on most of the Tideway downstream of Wandsworth Bridge, although boats are not allowed to create undue wash. Powered boats are limited to 12 knots between Lambeth Bridge and downstream of Tower Bridge, with some exceptions. Boats can be approved by the harbour master to travel at speeds of up to 30 knots from below Tower Bridge to past the Thames Barrier.[71]
Management
The administrative powers of the Thames Conservancy to control river traffic and manage flows have been taken on with some modifications by the Environment Agency and, in respect of the Tideway part of the river, such powers are split between the agency and the Port of London Authority.
In the Middle Ages the Crown exercised general jurisdiction over the Thames, one of the four royal rivers, and appointed water bailiffs to oversee the river upstream of Staines. The City of London exercised jurisdiction over the tidal Thames. However, navigation was increasingly impeded by weirs and mills, and in the 14th century the river probably ceased to be navigable for heavy traffic between Henley and Oxford. In the late 16th century the river seems to have been reopened for navigation from Henley to Burcot.[72]
The first commission concerned with the management of the river was the Oxford-Burcot Commission, formed in 1605 to make the river navigable between Burcot and Oxford.
In 1751 the Thames Navigation Commission was formed to manage the whole non-tidal river above Staines. The City of London long claimed responsibility for the tidal river. A long running dispute between the City and the Crown over ownership of the river was not settled until 1857, when the Thames Conservancy was formed to manage the river from Staines downstream. In 1866 the functions of the Thames Navigation Commission were transferred to the Thames Conservancy, which thus had responsibility for the whole river.
In 1909 the powers of the Thames Conservancy over the tidal river, below Teddington, were transferred to the Port of London Authority.
In 1974 the Thames Conservancy became part of the new Thames Water Authority. When Thames Water was privatised in 1990, its river management functions were transferred to the National Rivers Authority, in 1996 subsumed into the Environment Agency.
In 2010, the Thames won the world's largest environmental award at the time, the $350,000 International Riverprize, presented at the International Riversymposium in Perth, WA in recognition of the substantial and sustained restoration of the river by many hundreds of organisations and individuals since the 1950s.
As a boundary
Until enough crossings were established, the river presented a formidable barrier, with Belgic tribes and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms being defined by which side of the river they were on. When English counties were established their boundaries were partly determined by the Thames. On the northern bank were the ancient counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and Essex. On the southern bank were the counties of Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and Kent.
Counting bridges to the far bank or to an island connected to such, the Thames has 223. From source to mouth a channel can be found with 138 bridges, plus the temporary footbridge often added during
Crossings
Many of the present-day road bridges are on the site of earlier fords, ferries and wooden bridges.
are still in use.Kingston's growth is believed to stem from its having the only crossing between London Bridge and Staines until the beginning of the 18th century. During the 18th century, many stone and brick road bridges were built from new or to replace existing bridges both in London and along the length of the river. These included Putney Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Datchet Bridge, Windsor Bridge and Sonning Bridge.
Several central London road bridges were built in the 19th century, most conspicuously
Railway development in the 19th century resulted in a spate of bridge building including
The world's first underwater tunnel was Marc Brunel's
Many foot crossings were established across the weirs that were built on the non-tidal river, and some of these remained when the locks were built – for example at
Before bridges were built, the main means of crossing the river was by ferry. A significant number of ferries were provided specifically for navigation purposes. When the
Hydro-power
Whilst the use of the river to drive water-mills has largely died out, there has been a recent trend to use the head of water provided by the river's existing weirs to drive small
- A privately owned plant opened at corn mill that still operates occasionally.[74]
- A hydro-electric plant at Romney Lock to power Windsor Castle using two Archimedes' screws, opened in 2013 by Queen Elizabeth II.[75]
- Osney Lock Hydro, a community owned scheme at Osney Lock in Oxford, also opened in 2013.[76]
- Sandford Hydro, a community owned scheme at Sandford Lock to the south of Oxford, opened in 2017.[77]
- Reading Hydro, a community owned scheme at Caversham Lock in Reading, opened in 2021.[78]
Pollution
Treated and untreated sewage
Treated waste water from all the towns and villages in the Thames catchment flow into the Thames via sewage treatment plants. This includes all that from Swindon, Oxford, Berkshire and almost all of Surrey.
However, untreated sewage still often enters the Thames during wet weather. When
To reduce the release of this into the river, the
Mercury levels
Mercury (Hg) is an environmentally persistent heavy metal which can be toxic to marine life and humans. Sixty sediment cores of 1 m in depth, spanning the entire tidal River Thames between Brentford and the Isle of Grain, have been analysed for total Hg. The sediment records show a clear rise and fall of Hg pollution through history.[90] Mercury concentrations in the River Thames decrease downstream from London to the outer Estuary, with the total Hg levels ranging from 0.01 to 12.07 mg/kg, giving a mean of 2.10 mg/kg which is higher than many other UK and European river estuaries.[91][90]
The most sedimentary-hosted Hg pollution in the Thames estuary occurs in the central London area between Vauxhall Bridge and Woolwich.[90] The majority of sediment cores show a clear decrease in Hg concentrations close to the surface, which is attributed to an overall reduction in polluting activities as well as improved effectiveness of recent environmental legalisation and river management (e.g. Oslo-Paris convention).
Plastic pollution
The Thames has relatively high levels of plastic pollution, with an estimated 94,000 microplastics per second moving through some parts of the river. These microplastics come from the breakdown of larger items but also glitter and microbeads from cosmetics.[92]
One study found one-fifth of macroplastics found in the river were from food packaging.[93]
Sport
There are several watersports prevalent on the Thames, with many clubs encouraging participation and organising racing and inter-club competitions.
Rowing
The Thames is the historic heartland of
Two rowing events on the River Thames are traditionally part of the wider English sporting calendar:
The University Boat Race (between Oxford and Cambridge) takes place in late March or early April, on the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake in the west of London.
Other significant or historic rowing events on the Thames include:
- The Veterans Head, Scullers Head, Fours Head (HOR4s), and Pairs Head (shorter) on the Championship Course
- The Wingfield Sculls on the same course: (1x) (single sculling) championship
- Doggett's Coat and Badge for apprentice watermen of London, one of the oldest sporting events in the world
- Henley Women's Regatta
- The Henley Boat Races currently for the Lightweight (men's and women's) crews of Oxford and Cambridge universities
- The Oxford University bumping races known as Eights Week and Torpids
Other
Sailing
Sailing is practised on both the tidal and non-tidal reaches of the river. The highest club upstream is at Oxford. The most popular sailing craft used on the Thames are
Skiffing
Skiffing has dwindled in favour of private motor boat ownership but is competed on the river in the summer months. Six clubs and a similar number of skiff regattas exist from the Skiff Club, Teddington upstream.
Punting
Unlike the "pleasure punting" common on the Cherwell in Oxford and the Cam in Cambridge, punting on the Thames is competitive as well as recreational and uses narrower craft, typically based at the few skiff clubs.
Kayaking and canoeing
Swimming
In 2006, British swimmer and environmental campaigner Lewis Pugh became the first person to swim the full length of the Thames from outside Kemble to Southend-on-Sea to draw attention to the severe drought in England which saw record temperatures indicative of a degree of global warming. The 202 mi (325 km) swim took him 21 days to complete. The official headwater of the river had stopped flowing due to the drought, forcing Pugh to run the first 26 mi (42 km).[96]
Since June 2012, the Port of London Authority has made a by-law, which it enforces, that bans swimming between Putney Bridge and Crossness, Thamesmead (thus including all of central London), without obtaining prior permission, on the grounds that swimmers in that area of the river endanger not only themselves, due to the strong current of the river, but also other river users.[97]
Organised swimming events take place at various points generally upstream of
In non-tidal stretches swimming was, and still is, a leisure and fitness activity among experienced swimmers where safe, deeper outer channels are used in times of low stream.[102]
Meanders
A Thames meander is a long-distance journey over all or part of the Thames by running, swimming or using any of the above means. It is often carried out as an athletic challenge in a competition or for a record attempt.
The Thames in the arts
Visual arts
The River Thames has been a subject for artists, great and minor, over the centuries. Four major artists with works based on the Thames are
The river and bridges are portrayed as being destroyed – together with much of London – in the film
-
Houses of Parliament Sunlight Effect (Le Parlement effet de soleil) – Claude Monet
-
The first Westminster Bridge as painted by Canaletto in 1746
-
Maidenhead Railway Bridge as Turner saw it in 1844
-
Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Old Battersea Bridge(c. 1872–1875)
-
Foggy Morning on the Thames – James Hamilton (between 1872 and 1878)
-
Boating on the Thames - John Lavery, c. 1890
Literature
The Thames is mentioned in many works of literature including novels, diaries and poetry. It is the central theme in three in particular:
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, first published in 1889, is a humorous account of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford. The book was intended initially to be a serious travel guide, with accounts of local history of places along the route, but the humorous elements eventually took over. The landscape and features of the Thames as described by Jerome are virtually unchanged, and the book's enduring popularity has meant that it has never been out of print since it was first published.
Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend (written in the years 1864–65) describes the river in a grimmer light. It begins with a scavenger and his daughter pulling a dead man from the river near London Bridge, to salvage what the body might have in its pockets, and leads to its conclusion with the deaths of the villains drowned in Plashwater Lock upstream. The workings of the river and the influence of the tides are described with great accuracy. Dickens opens the novel with this sketch of the river, and the people who work on it:
In these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark Bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in. The figures in this boat were those of a strong man with ragged grizzled hair and a sun-browned face, and a girl of nineteen or twenty. The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man with the rudder-lines slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his waisteband, kept an eager look-out.
Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, written in 1908, is set in the middle to upper reaches of the river. It starts as a tale of anthropomorphic characters "simply messing about in boats" but develops into a more complex story combining elements of mysticism with adventure and reflection on Edwardian society. It is generally considered one of the most beloved works of children's literature[107] and the illustrations by E.H.Shepard and Arthur Rackham feature the Thames and its surroundings.
The river almost inevitably features in many books set in London. Most of Dickens' other novels include some aspect of the Thames.
Literary non-fiction works include
In poetry, William Wordsworth's sonnet On Westminster Bridge closes with the lines:
- Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
- The river glideth at his own sweet will:
- Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
- And all that mighty heart is lying still!
T. S. Eliot makes several references to the Thames in The Fire Sermon, Section III of The Waste Land.
The Sweet Thames line is taken from Edmund Spenser's Prothalamion which presents a more idyllic image:
- Along the shoare of silver streaming Themmes;
- Whose rutty banke, the which his river hemmes,
- Was paynted all with variable flowers.
- And all the meads adorn'd with daintie gemmes
- Fit to deck maydens bowres
Also writing of the upper reaches is
- Crossing the stripling Thames at Bab-lock-hythe
- Trailing in the cool stream thy fingers wet
- As the slow punt swings round
- Oh born in days when wits were fresh and clear
- And life ran gaily as the sparkling Thames;
- Before this strange disease of modern life.
Wendy Cope's poem 'After the Lunch' is set on Waterloo Bridge, beginning:
- On Waterloo Bridge, where we said our goodbyes,
- The weather conditions bring tears to my eyes.
- I wipe them away with a black woolly glove,
- And try not to notice I've fallen in love.
Dylan Thomas mentions the Thames in his poem "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London". "London's Daughter", the subject of the poem, lays "Deep with the first dead...secret by the unmourning water of the riding Thames".
Science-fiction novels make liberal use of a futuristic Thames. The utopian
In The Deptford Mice trilogy by Robin Jarvis, the Thames appears several times. In one book, rat characters swim through it to Deptford. Winner of the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award I, Coriander, by Sally Gardner is a fantasy novel in which the heroine lives on the banks of the Thames. Mark Wallington describes a journey up the Thames in a camping skiff, in his 1989 book Boogie up the River.
Many of the principal characters of the
Music
The
The song 'Old Father Thames' was recorded by Peter Dawson at Abbey Road Studios in 1933 and by Gracie Fields five years later. Jessie Matthews sings "My river" in the 1938 film Sailing Along, and the tune is the centrepiece of a major dance number near the end of the film.
The Sex Pistols played a concert on the Queen Elizabeth Riverboat on 7 June 1977, Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee year, while sailing down the river. The choral line "(I) (liaised) live by the river" in the song "London Calling" by the Clash refers to the River Thames.
Two songs by the Kinks feature the Thames as the setting of the first song's title and, for the second song, arguably in its mention of 'the river': "Waterloo Sunset" is about a couple's meetings on Waterloo Bridge, London and starts: "Dirty old river, must you keep rolling, flowing into the night?" and continues "Terry meets Julie, Waterloo station" and "...but Terry and Julie cross over the river where they feel safe and sound...". "See My Friends" continually refers to the singer's friends "playing 'cross the river" instead of the girl who "just left". Furthermore, Ray Davies as a solo artist refers to the River Thames in his "London Song".[108]
Ewan MacColl's "Sweet Thames, Flow Softly", written in the early 1960s, is a tragic love ballad set on trip up the river (see Edmund Spenser's love poem's refrain above). Culture Club are travelling the River Thames in a riverboat in the video for "Karma Chameleon". English musician Imogen Heap wrote a song from the point of view of the River Thames entitled "You Know Where To Find Me". The song was released in 2012 on 18 October as the sixth single from her fourth album Sparks.[109]
Major flood events
London flood of 1928
The 1928 Thames flood was a disastrous flood of the River Thames that affected much of riverside London on 7 January 1928, as well as places further downriver. Fourteen people were drowned in London and thousands were made homeless when flood waters poured over the top of the Thames Embankment and part of the Chelsea Embankment collapsed. It was the last major flood to affect central London, and, particularly following the disastrous North Sea flood of 1953, helped lead to the implementation of new flood-control measures that culminated in the construction of the Thames Barrier in the 1970s.
Thames Valley flood of 1947
The
The floods were caused by 4.6 in (120 mm) of rainfall (including snow); the peak flow was 61.7×10 9 L (13.6×10 9 imp gal) of water per day and the damage cost a total of £12 million to repair.[110]
Other significant Thames floods since 1947 have occurred in 1968, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2014.
Canvey Island flood of 1953
On the night of 31 January, the North Sea flood of 1953 devastated the island, taking the lives of 58 islanders and forcing the temporary evacuation of the 13,000 residents.[111] Canvey is consequently protected by modern sea defences comprising 15 mi (24 km) of concrete seawall.[112] Many of the victims were in the holiday bungalows of the eastern Newlands estate and perished as the water reached ceiling level. The small village area of the island is approximately two foot (0.6 m) above sea level and consequently escaped the effects of the flood.
See also
- Dartford Cable Tunnel
- Foreshore of the River Thames
- List of locations in the Port of London
- List of rivers of the United Kingdom
- Nore
- River and Rowing Museum
- Steamboat – reference Thames Steamboats
- Subterranean rivers of London
- Thames Discovery Programme
- Thames sailing barge
- Thames steamers
- Tyburn (stream)
References
Notes
- ^ See Tamsa River
- ^ Chapter 5: The Celtic Element (P. H. Reaney) . . . The name is considered to be related to the Sanskrit Tamasa ("dark water"), the name of a tributary [a] of the River Ganges.[4]
- ^ Chapter 5: The Celtic Element (P. H. Reaney). The common ME Tamise is a French form, as is the modern spelling with the French Th– for T– (Thamis 1220). [4]
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Further reading
- Ackroyd, Peter (2007). Thames: sacred river. London: Chatto & Windus. OCLC 137313198.
- Cove-Smith, Chris (2006). The River Thames book: a guide to the Thames from the Barrier to Cricklade with the River Wey, Basingstoke Canal and Kennet & Avon Canal to Great Bedwyn (4th ed.). St. Ives, Cambridgeshire: Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson. OCLC 67613526.
- Dix, Frank L. (1985). Royal river highway: a history of the passenger boats and services on the River Thames. Newton Abbot; North Pomfret, Vt.: David & Charles. OCLC 14355016.
- Milne, Gustav; Martin Bates; Mike D. Webber (June 1997). "Problems, potential and partial solutions: an archaeological study of the tidal Thames, England". World Archaeology. 29 (1–special issue, "Riverine archaeology, " ed. ISSN 0043-8243.
- Oliver, Stuart (June 2010). "Navigability and the improvement of the river Thames, 1605–1815". Geographical Journal. 176 (2): 164–77. ISSN 0016-7398.
- Sinclair, Mick (2007). The Thames: a cultural history. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 77520502.
- Thacker, Fred S. (1968). The Thames Highway. Vol. 2: locks and weirs ([1st ed.], new impression ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. OCLC 55209571.
- The Royal river: the Thames, from source to sea: descriptive, historical, pictorial. Henley-on-Thames: Gresham. 1983 [1885]. OCLC 17631247.