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Locks On The River Thames
The English River Thames is navigable from Cricklade (for very small, shallow boats) or Lechlade (for larger boats) to the sea, and this part of the river falls 71 meters (234 feet). There are 45 locks on the river, each with one or more adjacent weirs. These lock and weir combinations are used for controlling the flow of water down the river, most notably when there is a risk of flooding, and provide for navigation above the tideway. History From ancient times there were many obstructions across the Thames, for fish-pounds and millers' weirs. They are referred to by Asserius Menevensis in the ninth century and Magna Carta (1215) states that "weirs, for the time to come, shall be demolished in the Thames and Medway, except on the sea coast." It appears this never happened. In the Middle Ages, the fall on the river in its middle and upper sections was used to drive watermills for the production of flour and paper and various other purposes such as metal-beating. This inv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mapledurham Lock
Mapledurham Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames in England, about 4 miles upstream of Reading. The lock was first built in 1777 by the Thames Navigation Commissioners and the present lock dates from 1908. Despite its name, the lock is located in the Berkshire village and civil parish of Purley-On-Thames on the south bank of the river, rather than in the Oxfordshire village of Mapledurham on the other side of the river. The lock is accessible from Purley village down Mapledurham Drive, a metalled lane that turns to gravel. The weir stretches across the river, in both counties. The weir runs from the lock island in a long curve across the river between the two villages. However no access is possible across the weir, and without a boat, journeys between the two villages require a lengthy detour via Reading or Pangbourne. The weir still provides a head of water to drive Mapledurham Watermill which is on the opposite side of the river. The weir is also the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Stone (riparian)
London Stone is the name given to a number of boundary stones that stand beside the rivers Thames and Medway, which formerly marked the limits of jurisdiction ( riparian water rights) of the City of London. History Until 1350, the English Crown held the right to fish the rivers of England and charged duties on those people it licensed to fish. In 1197 King Richard I, in need of money to finance his involvement in the Third Crusade, sold the rights over the lower reaches of the River Thames to the City of London. Marker stones were erected to indicate the limit of the City's rights. In Victorian times, the Lord Mayor would come in procession by water and touch the Staines stone with a sword to re-affirm the City's rights. Control of the river passed from the City to the Thames Conservancy, and then below Teddington to the Port of London Authority and above it to Thames Water Authority and finally the Environment Agency. Staines In medieval times before the canalisati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Rivers Authority
The National Rivers Authority (NRA) was one of the forerunners of the Environment Agency of England and Wales, existing between 1989 and 1996. Before 1989 the regulation of the aquatic environment had largely been carried out by the ten regional water authorities (RWAs). The RWAs were responsible for the supply and distribution of drinking water, sewerage and sewage disposal, land drainage and flood risk management, fisheries, water quality management, pollution prevention, water resource management and many aspects of the management of aquatic ecology and some aspects of recreation. With the passing of the Water Act 1989, the ten water authorities in England and Wales were privatised by flotation on the stock market. They took the water supply, sewerage and sewage disposal activities into the privatised companies. The remaining duties remained with the newly created National Rivers Authority. The assets and the staff of the RWAs were divided up at privatisation between th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thames Water Authority
The Thames Water Authority was one of ten regional water authorities created in the UK on 1 April 1974 under the provisions of the Water Act 1973 to bring together all the water management functions of the region in one public body. Predecessors The bodies subsumed by the Thames Water Authority included the Metropolitan Water Board, the Thames Conservancy, the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board and parts of the Essex and Kent River authorities. It also took over water and sewage responsibility from the following water suppliers in the Thames catchment: * Colne Valley Water Company * Cotswold Water Board * Croydon Corporation * East Surrey Water Company * Epsom and Ewell Corporation * Lee Valley Water Company * Mid Southern Water Company * Middle Thames Water Board * Oxfordshire and District Water Board * Rickmansworth and Uxbridge Valley Water Company * South West Suburban Water Company * Sutton District Water Company * Swindon Corporation * Thames Valley Water Board * Watf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Port Of London Authority
The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its continuation (the Kent/Essex strait). It maintains and supervises navigation, and protects the river's environment. The PLA originally operated all enclosed dock systems on the river (except the Regent's Canal Dock), but these have long been closed to commercial traffic, with the exception of Port of Tilbury, which was privatised in 1992. It inherited the private police forces of the companies which had previously run the docks, reorganising them into a single Port of London Authority Police. Finance The PLA receives no funding from the government and is entirely self-financing. Revenues are raised from conservancy charges on vessels and cargo, pilotage charges, annual port dues, hydrographic services, river works licence fees and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thames Conservancy
The Thames Conservancy (formally the Conservators of the River Thames) was a body responsible for the management of the that river in England. It was founded in 1857 to replace the jurisdiction of the City of London up to Staines. Nine years later it took on the whole river from Cricklade in Wiltshire to the sea at Yantlet Creek on the Isle of Grain. Its territory was reduced when the Tideway (upper and lower estuary) was transferred to the Port of London Authority in 1909. In 1974 the conservancy was taken into the Thames Water Authority, later to devolve to the Environment Agency in almost all respects. History Background The stretch of river between the town of Staines, just to the west of London, and Yantlet Creek had been claimed by the City of London since 1197 under a charter of Richard the Lionheart. The jurisdiction was marked by the London Stones. In 1771 the Thames Navigation Commission was established from a body created twenty years earlier to handle naviga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's financial sector. In 2006, the name was changed from Corporation of London as the corporate body needed to be distinguished from the geographical area to avoid confusion with the wider London local government, the Greater London Authority. Both businesses and residents of the City, or "Square Mile", are entitled to vote in City elections, and in addition to its functions as the local authority—analogous to those undertaken by the 32 boroughs that administer the rest of the Greater London region—it takes responsibility for supporting the financial services industry and representing its interests. The corporation's structure includes the Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen, the Court of Common Council, and the Freemen and Livery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thames And Severn Canal
The Thames and Severn Canal is a canal in Gloucestershire in the south-west of England, which was completed in 1789. It was conceived as part of a cargo route from Bristol and the Midlands to London, linking England's two largest rivers for better trade. The route climbs the steep Cotswold escarpment through the Golden Valley, tunnels underneath the summit of the Cotswold Edge, and emerges near the source of the Thames. At its eastern end, it connects to the top of the navigable Thames at Inglesham Lock near Lechlade, while at its western end, it connects to the Stroudwater Navigation at Wallbridge near Stroud, and thence to the River Severn. It had one short arm (branch), from Siddington to the town of Cirencester. It includes Sapperton Tunnel, which when built was the longest canal tunnel in Britain, and remains the second-longest complete tunnel. There were always problems with water supply, as no reservoirs were built, while the summit section near the tunnel ran through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thames Navigation Commissioners
The Thames Navigation Commission managed the River Thames in southern England from 1751 to 1866. In particular, they were responsible for installing or renovating many of the locks on the river in the 18th and early 19th centuries History The first Commission concerned with the River Thames was the Oxford-Burcot Commission, appointed in an Act of 1605 by James I. It took responsibility for the river between Oxford and Burcot. The Oxford-Burcot Commission was reasonably successful. Thus, the permanent Thames Navigation Commissioners were appointed through a further Act under King George II in 1751. This Commission had similar powers covering the whole of the river down to Staines as far as a point marked by the London Stone; below this point the rights and responsibilities for managing the Thames were vested in the City of London Corporation. Earlier commissions had been created by acts as early as 1695, although these had limited terms. The Thames Conservancy was establishe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
