The River Lea ( ) is in
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...
. It originates in
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
, in the
Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England.
The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...
, and flows southeast through
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, along the
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
border and into
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
, to meet the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
at
Bow Creek. It is one of the largest rivers in London and the easternmost major tributary of the Thames.
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
Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.
The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...
the river has since medieval times had alterations made to make it more navigable for boats between the Thames and eastern Hertfordshire and
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, known as the
Lee Navigation
The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and its ...
. This stimulated much industry along its banks. The navigable
River Stort
The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (38 km) long and flows from just south of the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon.
The river's name is a back-formation; the town of Bishop's Stort ...
, the main tributary, joins it at
Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River.
Hoddesdon is ...
.
While the lower Lea remains somewhat polluted, its upper stretch and tributaries, classified as
chalk stream
Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...
s, 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
In materials science, hardness (antonym: softness) is a measure of the resistance to localized plastic deformation induced by either mechanical indentation or abrasion. In general, different materials differ in their hardness; for example hard ...
(high mineral content) of London tap water.
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
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
period include ''Lig(e)an'' in 880 and ''Lygan'' in 895, and in the early medieval period it is usually ''Luye'' or ''Leye''. It seems to be derived from a
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
(brythonic) root ''lug''-meaning 'bright or light' which is also the derivation of a name for a deity, so the meaning may be 'bright river' or 'river dedicated to the god
Lugus
Lugus was a deity of the Celtic pantheon. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from place names and ethnonyms, and his nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gall ...
'. A simpler derivation may well be the Brythonic word cognate with the modern Welsh "Li" pronounced "Lea" which means a flow or a current.
The river is the major component in a number of place-names, including
Leagrave
Leagrave is a former village and now a suburb of Luton, in the Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England, in the northwest of the town. The area is roughly bounded by Vincent Road, Torquay Drive and High Street to the nor ...
, the suburb of
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...
where the source of the river is located, and of
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...
and
Leyton
Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...
: both mean ''"farmstead on the River Lea"''.
Spelling
The spelling ''Lea'' predominates west (upstream) of
Hertford
Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.
The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...
, but both spellings (''Lea'' and ''Lee'') are used from Hertford to the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
. The
Lee Navigation
The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and its ...
was established by Acts of Parliament and only that spelling is used in this context. The
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) is a statutory body that is responsible for managing and developing the long, Lee Valley Regional Park. The park was established by Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1967. The headquarters of the a ...
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
Leamouth is a locality in the Blackwall area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area takes its name from the former ''Leamouth Wharf'' and lies on the west side of the confluence of the Bow Creek stretch of the Lea, at its confluence ...
,
Lea Bridge
Lea Bridge is a district in the London Borough of Hackney and the London Borough of Waltham Forest in London, England. It lies 7 miles (11.3 km) northeast of Charing Cross.
The area it takes its name from a bridge built over the River ...
, the
Lea Valley Walk
The Lea Valley Walk is a long-distance path located between Leagrave, the source of the River Lea near Luton, and the Thames, at Limehouse Basin, Limehouse, east London. From its source much of the walk is rural. At Hertford the path follows t ...
and the
Lea Valley Railway Lines. This spelling is also used in geology, archaeology, etc. to refer to the
Lea Valley
The Lea Valley, the valley of the River Lea, has been used as a transport corridor, a source of sand and gravel, an industrial area, a water supply for London, and a recreational area. The London 2012 Summer Olympics were based in Stratford, in ...
.
Other uses
The term ''River Lea'' is
Cockney rhyming slang
Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...
for tea.
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 Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
the Lea and Stort valleys formed a hotly contested frontier zone between the
Catuvellauni
The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century.
The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their k ...
to the west and the eastern
Trinovantes
The Trinovantēs (Common Brittonic: *''Trinowantī'') or Trinobantes were one of the Celtic tribes of Pre-Roman Britain. Their territory was on the north side of the Thames estuary in current Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, and included lan ...
. The two rivers are assumed to have been the boundary between the core territory of the
Kingdom of the East Saxons
la, Regnum Orientalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Saxons
, common_name = Essex
, era = Heptarchy
, status =
, status_text =
, government_type = Monarch ...
and its
Middle Saxon Province. The whole of the Lea was subsequently used as the boundary between English-ruled territory to the west and the
Danelaw
The Danelaw (, also known as the Danelagh; ang, Dena lagu; da, Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian ...
, established in the late 9th century, to the east.
From around the ninth or tenth century, and the establishment of
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in this part of England, the Lea-Stort line has formed the historic boundary between
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
to the east and
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
and
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
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
The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...
with
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
.
When reviewing the boundaries of London's parliamentary constituencies, the
Boundary Commission
A boundary commission is a legal entity that determines borders of nations, states, constituencies.
Notable boundary commissions have included:
* Afghan Boundary Commission, an Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission, of 1885 and 1893, delineated the no ...
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.
Course
Upper Lea
![WardownLake](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/WardownLake.jpg)
The
source
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
is usually said to be at Well Head inside
Waulud's Bank
Waulud's Bank is a possible Neolithic henge in Leagrave, Luton dating from 3,000BC.
The Waulud's Bank earthworks are in the North of Luton and are situated on the edge of Leagrave common, with Central Leagrave to the south east and Marsh Farm ...
, a
neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
henge
There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...
at
Leagrave Common in
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...
,
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
; though very close to that spot the river is fed by
Houghton Brook, a stream that starts further west in
Houghton Regis
Houghton Regis is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, East of England.
The parish is located in Central Bedfordshire, which includes the hamlets of Bidwell, Bedfordshire, Bidwell, Thorn, Bedfordshire, Th ...
.
After passing through Luton, the young river passes through the
Luton Hoo
Luton Hoo is an English country house and Estate (land), estate near Luton in Bedfordshire and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of Hyde, Bedfordshire. The Old English language, Saxon word wikt:hoo#Etym ...
estate and six miles from its source, enters
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
. The river then flows east-south-east by way of
Harpenden
Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,240 in the 2011 census, whilst the population of the civil parish was 29,448. Har ...
,
Wheathampstead
Wheathampstead is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north of St Albans. The population of the ward at the 2001 census was 6,058. Included within the parish is the small hamlet of Amwell.
History
Settlements in this area were ...
- once capital of the
Catuvellauni
The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century.
The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their k ...
tribe, through the narrow green gap between the new towns of
Hatfield and
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...
, onto the
county town
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...
of
Hertford
Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.
The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...
.
Middle Lea
![River Lea Amwell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/River_Lea_Amwell.JPG)
At Hertford the shallow river turns briefly north before turning to head due south, the few miles 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
The River Mimram is a river in Hertfordshire, England.
Geography
The river valley known locally as the Mimram Valley is named after the River Mimram, which rises from a spring to the north-west of Whitwell, in North Hertfordshire, England, an ...
,
Beane,
Rib
In vertebrate anatomy, ribs ( la, costae) are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the chest, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ches ...
,
Ash
Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...
and then the
River Stort
The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (38 km) long and flows from just south of the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon.
The river's name is a back-formation; the town of Bishop's 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
River Lee Navigation
The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek (England), Bow Creek; its first lock is H ...
, a deep canal which begins at
Hertford Castle Weir
Hertford Castle Weir is a weir located in Hertford near to Hertford Castle and next to Hertford Theatre.
Its function is to connect the upper River Lea to the canalised section that runs through Hertfordshire, Essex and London, to the Rive ...
.
The Stort, the most important tributary of the Lea, joins a short distance from Hertford at
Feildes Weir
Feildes Weir is a weir on the River Lea located in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire at the confluence of the River Lea and River Stort. The weir marks the start of the Lower Lee. A channel of the man-made River Lee Flood Relief Channel is incorporated ...
, and is itself navigable as far upstream as
Bishops Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated popu ...
. A railway passes along the west side of the Lea's flood plain, from Hertford to Tottenham, improving the accessibility of the area and contributing to the
ribbon development Ribbon development refers to the building of houses along the routes of communications radiating from a human settlement. The resulting linear settlements are clearly visible on land use maps and aerial photographs, giving cities and the countrysid ...
that made the character of the west side of the valley much more developed than the east.
Just after Hertford, the river passes the medieval river port of
Ware
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
*Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
*Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
*Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County, Al ...
and the Hertfordshire bank soon becomes entirely developed. On the west bank the river passes
Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River.
Hoddesdon is ...
,
Broxbourne
Broxbourne is a town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Hoddesdon, in the Broxbourne district, in Hertfordshire, England, north of London, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census.Broxbourne Town population 2011 It is ...
and
Cheshunt
Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Hertfor ...
in Hertfordshire; then
Enfield
Enfield may refer to:
Places Australia
* Enfield, New South Wales
* Enfield, South Australia
** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb
** Enfield High School (South Australia)
...
,
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Tottenham
Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...
and
Tottenham Marshes
The Tottenham Marshes are located at Tottenham in the London Borough of Haringey. The marshes cover over and became part of the Lee Valley Park in 1972. The marsh is made up of three main areas: Clendish Marsh, Wild Marsh West and Wild Marsh Ea ...
in north London. On the eastern side the river passes
Waltham Abbey
Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and E ...
on the largely rural Essex bank, and then
Chingford
Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The town is approximately north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow to the ...
and
Walthamstow
Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...
in east London.
For many miles 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
Lee Valley Reservoir Chain
The Lee Valley Reservoir Chain is located in the Lee Valley, and comprises 13 reservoirs that supply drinking water to London.
The Reservoir Chain is a major geographic constraint; together with the Thames it is one of the two significant topog ...
, fed by the branches of the river known as the
River Lee Flood Relief Channel
The Lee Flood Relief Channel (FRC) is located in the Lea Valley and flows between Ware, Hertfordshire, and Stratford, east London. Work started on the channel in 1947 following major flooding and it was fully operational by 1976. The channel in ...
and the
River Lee Diversion
The River Lee Diversion is located in the Lea Valley, close to Enfield Lock and to the north east corner of the King George V Reservoir.
History
As its name implies, the River Lea was diverted to accommodate the construction of the Chingford ...
. These reservoirs come to an end on the boundaries of the London Boroughs of
Haringey
The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of ...
and
Hackney and form part of a broad undeveloped green space, a mile wide in places, which extends deep into London.
![River Lea and associated channels at Tottenham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/River_Lea_and_associated_channels_at_Tottenham.jpg)
Lower Lea
On
Hackney's northern edge the river shifts to a south-south-easterly direction, the reservoirs end but the broad green corridor continues. The corridor includes
Walthamstow Marshes
Walthamstow Marshes, is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It was once an area of lammas land – common land used for growing crops and grazing cattle.
In aviation histo ...
,
Leyton Marshes
Leyton Marsh is an open space in the Lower Lea Valley, located in Leyton in the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
Geography
The marsh is bordered by the Walthamstow Marshes to the north, and by Coppermill Fields, the Lee Navigation and the R ...
,
Hackney Marshes
Hackney Marshes is an area of open space in London's Lower Lea Valley, lying on the western bank of the River Lea. It takes its name from its position on the eastern boundary of Hackney, the principal part of the London Borough of Hackney, and ...
and the
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and public park in Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow, in east London. It was purpose-built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, situated adjacent to the Stratford City developm ...
. In that park, and just to the south of it, the river's course is split, running almost completely in man made channels, the
Bow Back Rivers
Bow Back Rivers or Stratford Back Rivers is a complex of waterways between Bow and Stratford in east London, England, which connect the River Lea to the River Thames. Starting in the twelfth century, works were carried out to drain Stratford M ...
; these channels were once much more numerous and originally created to power water mills, including at the southern end, the restored tidal mill called
Three Mills
The Three Mills are former working mills and an island of the same name on the River Lea. It is one of London’s oldest extant industrial centres. The mills lie in the London Borough of Newham, but despite lying on the Newham side of the Lea, ac ...
. The area around the Bow Back Rivers subsequently became a thriving industrial zone. Around
Bow Creek, major industry prevailed, including the
Thames Ironworks,
Bromley-by-Bow gasholders
The Bromley-by-Bow gasholders are a group of seven cast iron Victorian gasholders in Twelvetrees Crescent, West Ham and named after nearby Bromley (now Bromley-by-Bow) in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Built between 1872 and 1878 to store ...
and
West Ham Power Station
West Ham Power Station was a coal-fired power station on Bow Creek (the tidal mouth of the River Lea) at Canning Town, in east London. It was often referred to informally as Canning Town Power Station.
History
The first power station at Ca ...
. In the 1960s and 1970s, changing economic conditions led to a steep decline and
deindustrialisation
Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry.
There are different interpre ...
along the Lea.
The river was historically tidal as far as
Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in east London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are sometimes a ...
, but now the tide is held back by
Bow Locks
Bow Locks No. 20 () is a set of bi-directional locks in Bromley-by-Bow in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Newham. The locks link the tidal Bow Creek to the River Lee Navigation, which is a canalised river. These locks were first built ...
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
The Limehouse Cut is a largely straight, broad canal in the East End of London which links the lower reaches of the Lee Navigation to the River Thames. Opening on 17 September 1770, and widened for two-way traffic by 1777, it is the oldest cana ...
(which meets the Lea at Bow Locks) down the
Limehouse Basin
Limehouse Basin is a body of water 2 miles east of London Bridge that is also a navigable link between the River Thames and two of London's canals. First dug in 1820 as the eastern terminus of the new Regent's Canal, its wet area was less than ...
, using the
Limehouse Basin Lock
Limehouse Basin Lock is a lock forming the exit from Limehouse Basin to the Thames, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England. It is the final lock on the Regent's Canal. The Narrow Street swing bridge sits between the lock and the river. ...
to join the Thames.
The communities on the west side of the lower Lea include
Hackney,
Bow and
Bromley-by-Bow
Bromley, commonly known as
Bromley-by- Bow, is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, located on the western banks of the River Lea, in the Lower Lea Valley in East London.
The area is distinct from Bow, which li ...
. On the east side they include southern parts of
Walthamstow
Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...
, then
Leyton
Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...
,
Stratford and
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
. The last few miles of the river is known as
Bow Creek and the river meets the Thames at
Blackwall (on the west side) and
Canning Town
Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...
(on the east).
River history
Crossings
In the
Roman era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
,
Old Ford
Old Ford is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets that is named after the natural ford which provided a crossing of the River Lea.
History Administration and boundaries
Historically, Old Ford was a cluster of houses and a mill, aroun ...
, as the name suggests, was the ancient, most downstream, crossing point of the River Lea. This was part of a pre-Roman route that followed the modern
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...
,
Old Street
Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shoreditch High ...
, through
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...
to
Old Ford
Old Ford is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets that is named after the natural ford which provided a crossing of the River Lea.
History Administration and boundaries
Historically, Old Ford was a cluster of houses and a mill, aroun ...
and thence across a causeway through the marshes, known as
Wanstead Slip (now in Leyton). The route then continued through Essex to
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
. At this time, the Lea was a wider river, and the tidal estuary stretched as far as
Hackney Wick
Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in east London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are sometimes a ...
. Evidence of a late
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
settlement at Old Ford, dating from the 4th and 5th centuries, has been found.
In 1110,
Matilda
Matilda or Mathilda may refer to:
Animals
* Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder
* Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse
* Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...
, wife of
Henry I Henry I may refer to:
876–1366
* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936)
* Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955)
* Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018)
* Henry I of France (1008–1060)
* Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...
, reputedly took a tumble at the ford, on her way to
Barking Abbey
Barking Abbey is a former royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as having been "one of the most important nunneries in the country".
Originally established in the 7th century, fr ...
and ordered a
distinctively bow-shaped, three-arched, bridge to be built over the River Lea (''The like of which had not been seen before''), at Bow, the first bridge over the lower Lea. The lower Lea was at that time a wide, tidal and unchannelised river, so the construction of the bridge allowed a far greater degree of social and economic integration between Essex on one side, and Middlesex (including the City of London) on the other, than had been possible before.
Lea Bridge
Lea Bridge is a district in the London Borough of Hackney and the London Borough of Waltham Forest in London, England. It lies 7 miles (11.3 km) northeast of Charing Cross.
The area it takes its name from a bridge built over the River ...
, the second bridge over the lower Lea was built after 1757, to replace the pre-existing ferry. It connected
Clapton to the west, and
Leyton
Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...
and
Walthamstow
Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...
to the east. The Iron Bridge carrying the Barking Road over the river to
Canning Town
Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...
was built in 1810. There are significantly more crossings over the more central ''Lower Lea'', than there are over the ''Middle Lea''.
Trade and industry
During the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
,
Temple Mills
Temple Mills is a district located on the boundary of the London boroughs of London Borough of Newham, Newham and London Borough of Waltham Forest, Waltham Forest, with a small part also in London Borough of Hackney, Hackney in east London.
Temp ...
,
Abbey Mills, Old Ford and Bow were the sites of water mills (mainly in ecclesiastic ownership) that supplied flour to the bakers of Stratforde-atte-Bow, and hence bread to the City. It was the channels created for these mills that caused the Bow Back Rivers to be cut through the former Roman stone causeway at Stratford (from which the name is derived).
The River Lea flows through the old brewing and
malting
Malting is the process of steeping, germinating and drying grain to convert it into malt. The malt is mainly used for brewing or whisky making, but can also be used to make malt vinegar or malt extract. Various grains are used for malting, most ...
centre of
Ware
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
*Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
*Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
*Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County, Al ...
, and consequently transport by water was for many years a significant industry based there. Barley was transported into Ware, and malt out via the river, in particular to London. Bargemen born in Ware were given the "freedom of the River Thames" — avoiding the requirement of paying lock dues — as a result of their transport of fresh water and food to London during
The Great Plague
The Great Plague of London, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long Second Pandemic, a period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics that origi ...
of 1665–66. A local legend says that dead bodies were brought out of London at that time via the river for burying in Ware, but there is no evidence for this.
The extensive level of waterborne trade led the historian
John Stow
John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles'', ''The C ...
, writing in 1603, to describe the Lea as “this pleasant and useful river”.
The riverside has hosted a number of major armaments manufacturers, such as the
Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills
The Royal Gunpowder Mills are a former industrial site in Waltham Abbey, England.
It was one of three Royal Gunpowder Mills in the United Kingdom (the others being at Ballincollig and Faversham). Waltham Abbey is the only site to have survive ...
, the
Royal Small Arms Factory
The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) was a UK government-owned rifle factory in Enfield (though some parts were in Waltham Abbey), adjoining the Lee Navigation in the Lea Valley. The factory produced British military rifles, muskets and swords f ...
at
Enfield Lock
Enfield Lock is an area in the London Borough of Enfield, north London. It is approximately located east of the Hertford Road between Turkey Street and the Holmesdale Tunnel overpass, and extends to the River Lee Navigation, including the Enfi ...
(which is now a housing development known as
Enfield Island Village
Enfield Island Village is a modern housing estate in Enfield Lock, in the London Borough of Enfield, north London. Before April 1994, Enfield Island Village formed part of the Epping Forest district of Essex, but it was transferred to the borough ...
) and the
Congreve Rocket Factory on the site of
Stratford Langthorne Abbey
Stratford Langthorne Abbey, or the Abbey of St Mary's, Stratford Langthorne was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1135 at Stratford Langthorne — then Essex but now Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. The Abbey, also known as West ...
.
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
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
. By 1577, the first lock was established at Waltham Abbey and the river began to be actively managed for navigation.
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.
[Enfield.gov.uk River Lee History]
/ref> The artificial channel further reduced the flow to the natural river and by 1767 locks were installed below Hertford Castle Weir on the canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
ised part of the Lea, now the Lee Navigation
The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and its ...
with further locks and canalisation taking place during the succeeding centuries. In 1766, work also began on the Limehouse Cut
The Limehouse Cut is a largely straight, broad canal in the East End of London which links the lower reaches of the Lee Navigation to the River Thames. Opening on 17 September 1770, and widened for two-way traffic by 1777, it is the oldest cana ...
to connect the river, at Bromley-by-Bow
Bromley, commonly known as
Bromley-by- Bow, is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, located on the western banks of the River Lea, in the Lower Lea Valley in East London.
The area is distinct from Bow, which li ...
, with the Thames at Limehouse Basin
Limehouse Basin is a body of water 2 miles east of London Bridge that is also a navigable link between the River Thames and two of London's canals. First dug in 1820 as the eastern terminus of the new Regent's Canal, its wet area was less than ...
.[
The ]Waterworks River
Waterworks River is a river, at one time a tidal river, in the London Borough of Newham, one of the Bow Back Rivers that flow into the Bow Creek part of the River Lea, which in turn flows into the River Thames.
The river is an artificial chann ...
, a part of the tidal Bow Back Rivers
Bow Back Rivers or Stratford Back Rivers is a complex of waterways between Bow and Stratford in east London, England, which connect the River Lea to the River Thames. Starting in the twelfth century, works were carried out to drain Stratford M ...
, has been widened by and canalised to assist with construction of the Olympic Park
An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics c ...
for the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. In 2009, Three Mills Lock
Three Mills Lock, also known as the Prescott Lock is a lock on the Prescott Channel on the River Lea in London. The project was led by British Waterways and the lock officially opened on 5 June 2009.
The lock cuts off this section of the Bo ...
was installed on the Prescott Channel
The Prescott Channel was built in 1930–35 as part of a flood relief scheme for the River Lee Navigation in the East End of London, England, and was named after Sir William Prescott, the then chairman of the Lee Conservancy Board. to maintain water levels on the Lea, within the park at a depth of . This allowed access by 350–tonnes barges to ensure that at least 50% of the material required for construction could be delivered, or removed, by water. (These figures are under review. It is stipulated that the governing body has re appraised these figures).
War and conflict
Millfields Park on the Lea at Hackney, is the reputed site of a victory of Aescwine of Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
over Octa of Kent
Octa (or Octha) (c. 500 – 543) was an Anglo-Saxon King of Kent during the 6th century. Sources disagree on his relationship to the other kings in his line; he may have been the son of Hengist or Oisc, and may have been the father of Oisc or Eo ...
in 527, which allowed Aescwine to become the first King of Essex
The Kingdom of the East Saxons ( ang, Ēastseaxna rīce; la, Regnum Orientalium Saxonum), referred to as the Kingdom of Essex , was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century ...
. However, the historicity of these events and the very existence of Aescwine are disputed.
Somewhere between 878 and 890 the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum
The Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum is a 9th-century peace agreement between Alfred of Wessex and Guthrum, the Viking ruler of East Anglia. It sets out the boundaries between Alfred and Guthrum's territories as well as agreements on peaceful trade, a ...
was drawn up that amongst other things used the course of the Lea to define the border between the Danes and the English. In 894, a force of Danes
Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
Danes generally regard t ...
sailed up the river to Hertford, and in about 895 they built a fortified camp, in the higher reaches of the Lea, about north of London. Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...
saw an opportunity to defeat the Danes and dug a new channel to lower the level of the river, leaving the Danes stranded.
In 1216, during the First Barons' War
The First Barons' War (1215–1217) was a civil war in the Kingdom of England in which a group of rebellious major landowners (commonly referred to as barons) led by Robert Fitzwalter waged war against King John of England. The conflict resulte ...
, the future Louis VIII of France
Louis VIII (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (french: Le Lion), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As prince, he invaded England on 21 May 1216 and was excommunicated by a papal legate on 29 May 1216. On 2 June 1216 ...
besieged Hertford Castle
Hertford Castle was built in Norman times by the River Lea in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, England. Most of the internal buildings of the castle have been demolished. The main surviving section is the Tudor gatehouse, which is ...
for a month, leading to its surrender. He only held the castle for a relatively short time as he lost the war soon after.
In 1648 during the second English Civil War
The Second English Civil War took place between February to August 1648 in Kingdom of England, England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 1641 ...
a Royalist force crossed the Thames from Greenwich and hoped to cross Bow Bridge, over the Lea and into Essex. After inconclusive clashes with the Tower Hamlets Militia
The Tower Division was a liberty in the ancient county of Middlesex, England. It was also known as the Tower Hamlets, and took its name from the military obligations owed to the Constable of the Tower of London. The term ‘Hamlets’ probably ...
and other Parliamentarian forces, an engagement known as the Battle of Bow Bridge, the Royalists headed for Colchester and were besieged there.
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.
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
Lee Valley Regional Park is a long linear park, much of it green spaces, running through the northeast of Greater London, Essex and Hertfordshire from the River Thames to Ware, through areas such as Stratford, Clapton, Tottenham, Enfield, ...
. Some of the land surrounding the river has been designated as Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...
or Metropolitan Open Land
"Metropolitan Open Land" or "MOL" is a term or designation used only within London. Land designated MOL is afforded the same level of protection as the Metropolitan Green Belt. Designation is intended to protect areas of landscape, recreation, natu ...
in order to prevent further urbanisation.
Wildlife
The river contains fish and other wildlife such as the occasional seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
.
Some boat trippers reported observing on 5 August 2005 a Canada goose
The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...
being pulled underwater very quickly. The London Wildlife Trust
London Wildlife Trust (LWT), founded in 1981, is a local nature conservation charity for Greater London. It is one of 46 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (known as The Wildlife Trusts), each of which is a local nature conservatio ...
suggested that this was most likely caused by a pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
.
In 2011, Mike Wells claimed that he saw a "goose go vertically down" in the river. Again a pike or mink
Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...
was suggested as most likely. Vice Magazine
''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...
suggested that Wells' story may have been invented to publicise authorities' attempts to evict houseboats from the area that year, in advance of the 2012 Olympic Games
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.
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, or the toxic runoff
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...
from a warehouse fire in 2019. The sewage pollution, as well as that of fertiliser washed in from agricultural fields causes eutrophication
Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...
, an excess of nutrients, which not only unbalances the ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
, but also leads to de-oxygenation of the water.
Dumping, litter and microplastics
Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than in length, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Chemicals Agency. They cause pollution by entering natural ecosystems from a v ...
are a major problem on the Lea with much of this waste arriving in the river in sewage. In April 2021 Hackney Council
Hackney London Borough Council is the local government authority for the London Borough of Hackney, London, England, one of 32 London borough councils. The council is unusual in the United Kingdom local government system in that its executive fu ...
wrote to the Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
calling for action to address sewage discharge and pollution in the river. In November 2021, local volunteers stated they were removing 100kg of plastic pollution
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...
from the Lower Lea every month.
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 Thames21 Thames21 is a British charity concerned with water improvement projects across London, focused on the Thames and its tributaries.
Thames 21 developed from a partnership programme launched in 1994 called ''ThamesClean'', supported by Keep Britain Ti ...
installing reedbed
A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and
estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...
s help to remove pollutants whilst oxygenating the water, as well as creating habitat for the likes of water voles and improving the aesthetics of the man-made concrete sections of the canalised river.
Sport
In their early days, Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
played their games at Tottenham Marshes
The Tottenham Marshes are located at Tottenham in the London Borough of Haringey. The marshes cover over and became part of the Lee Valley Park in 1972. The marsh is made up of three main areas: Clendish Marsh, Wild Marsh West and Wild Marsh Ea ...
on the Middle Lea while Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...
have had a number of home grounds in the Lower Lea Valley
The Lower Lea Valley is the southern end of the Lea Valley which surrounds the River Lea. It is part of the Thames Gateway redevelopment area and was the location of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
A 2005 documentary ''What Have You Done Today, Mervyn ...
, with both having their current grounds within a mile of the river. West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
was established as the works team of the Thames Ironworks, a shipyard which straddled either side of the Lea at its confluence with the Thames.
The 2012 Olympics was focused in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and public park in Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow, in east London. It was purpose-built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, situated adjacent to the Stratford City developm ...
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
Lee Valley White Water Centre (previously known as Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre) is a white-water slalom centre, that was constructed to host the whitewater slalom, canoe slalom events of the 2012 Summer Olympics, London 2012 Olympic Gam ...
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 Falling Down
"London Bridge Is Falling Down" (also known as "My Fair Lady" or "London Bridge") is a traditional English nursery rhyme and singing game, which is found in different versions all over the world. It deals with the dilapidation of London Bridge ...
make reference to Bow Bridge. The oldest known version could be that recalled by a correspondent to the ''Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...
'' in 1823, in which he claimed to have heard from a woman who was a child in the reign of Charles II (r. 1660–1685) and had the lyrics:
There are a number of theories about the identity of the ''Fair Lady'', including the idea that it may refer to Matilda
Matilda or Mathilda may refer to:
Animals
* Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder
* Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse
* Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...
, the builder of Bow Bridge and its neighbours, or that it may apply to the River Lea itself.
Other
The poem ''A Tale of Two Swannes'' is set along the River Lea. It was written by William Vallans and published in 1590.
The old course of the river is the one featured in the early chapters of the classic fishing book ''The Compleat Angler
''The Compleat Angler'' (the spelling is sometimes modernised to ''The Complete Angler'', though this spelling also occurs in first editions) is a book by Izaak Walton. It was first published in 1653 by Richard Marriot in London.
Walton continu ...
'' by Izaak Walton
Izaak Walton (baptised 21 September 1593 – 15 December 1683) was an English writer. Best known as the author of ''The Compleat Angler'', he also wrote a number of short biographies including one of his friend John Donne. They have been colle ...
. The author begins at Tottenham
Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...
and proceeds upriver from there.
A guide to walking along the river valley was written by Leigh Hatts, and an account of a walk along the complete length of the river in 2009 was published as a blog by "Diamond Geezer".
In 2014, German writer Esther Kinsky
Esther Kinsky (born 1956 in Engelskirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) is a German literary translator and the author of novels and poetry.
Life and works
Esther Kinsky grew up in North Rhine-Westphalia and read Slavonic studies at Bonn. Sh ...
published a novel, ''Am Fluß'', now available in English as ''River'', translated by Iain Galbraith,[''River'', translated by Iain Galbraith and published by Fitzcarraldo Editions. ] 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
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...
dedicated a track to the river on her third studio album, '' 25''.
Notable fisheries
* Amwell Magna Fishery
Amwell Magna Fishery is located on the River Lea at Great Amwell which is south of Ware in Hertfordshire, southern England.
History
The fishery was established in 1831 and is the oldest fly fishing club in the United Kingdom still fishin ...
* Carthagena Weir
Carthagena Weir is a weir located at Broxbourne on the River Lea. The well oxygenated water with depths ranging to over 16 ft, makes it an ideal environment for coarse fish including the common barbel.
Fishery
The weir is part of a c ...
* Dobbs Weir
Dobbs Weir is both a weir in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire and an area of Roydon, Essex in England on the River Lea. It is well known for angling, outdoor beauty and watersports. It is overlooked by the ''Fish and Eels'' pub.
Angling
The weir i ...
* Fishers Green
Fishers Green is a settlement to the north of the town of Waltham Abbey, Essex, England, in the parish of Waltham Abbey. It lies on the flood plain of the River Lea.
Description
In the years following World War II much of the flood plain was ...
* Kings Weir
Kings Weir is a weir on the River Lea near Turnford, Hertfordshire, Turnford and Nazeing in Hertfordshire, England.
Ecology
It is a well known fishery where barbus barbus, barbel can be caught.Bow Back Rivers
Bow Back Rivers or Stratford Back Rivers is a complex of waterways between Bow and Stratford in east London, England, which connect the River Lea to the River Thames. Starting in the twelfth century, works were carried out to drain Stratford M ...
* Lea Valley
The Lea Valley, the valley of the River Lea, has been used as a transport corridor, a source of sand and gravel, an industrial area, a water supply for London, and a recreational area. The London 2012 Summer Olympics were based in Stratford, in ...
* Lea Valley Walk
The Lea Valley Walk is a long-distance path located between Leagrave, the source of the River Lea near Luton, and the Thames, at Limehouse Basin, Limehouse, east London. From its source much of the walk is rural. At Hertford the path follows t ...
* List of rivers of England
This is a list of rivers of England, organised geographically and taken anti-clockwise around the English coast where the various rivers discharge into the surrounding seas, from the Solway Firth on the Scottish border to the Welsh Dee on the Wel ...
* List of reservoirs and dams in the United Kingdom
This is a list of dams and reservoirs in the United Kingdom.
England Buckinghamshire
* Foxcote Reservoir, north of Buckingham
*Weston Turville Reservoir, between Weston Turville and Wendover
Cambridgeshire
*Grafham Water
Cheshire
* Bollinhurs ...
* Locks and Weirs on the River Lea
* Lower Lea Valley
The Lower Lea Valley is the southern end of the Lea Valley which surrounds the River Lea. It is part of the Thames Gateway redevelopment area and was the location of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
A 2005 documentary ''What Have You Done Today, Mervyn ...
* Lee Navigation
The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and its ...
* Tributaries of the River Thames
This article lists the tributaries of the River Thames from the sea to the source, in England. There are also secondary lists of backwaters of the river itself and the waterways branching off.
Note: the River Medway shares the saline lower Tha ...
* Lea Valley Lines
The Lea Valley lines are two commuter lines and two branches in north-east London, so named because they run along the Lower Lea Valley of the River Lea. They were part of the Great Eastern Railway, now part of the ''Anglia Route'' of Networ ...
* Walthamstow Pump House Museum
The Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum is a museum based in Walthamstow, north-east London, it is contained in and around Low Hall Pumping Station, a Grade II listed building, originally built as a sewage pumping station in 1885.
The museum focuses o ...
Tributaries
* For a full list of tributaries, please expand the box entitled 'River Lea / Lee, England' at the bottom of this page.
References
External links
* Peter Marshall
The Lea Valley
photographs from 1980 to 2008
* UK Urban Exploration Forums
River Lea through Luton
photographs of the underground culvert in March 2009
* , an article from a kayaking and canoeing perspective
''Trolling for Pike in the River Lee''
1831, by James Pollard
James Pollard (1792–1867) was a British painter noted for his mail coach, fox hunting and equine scenes.
Life
Pollard was born in Baynes Spa Fields (later renamed Exmouth Street) in Islington, the son of the painter and publisher Robert Pol ...
at Tate Britain
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
''Fly Fishing in the River Lee near the Ferry Boat Inn''
1831, by James Pollard
James Pollard (1792–1867) was a British painter noted for his mail coach, fox hunting and equine scenes.
Life
Pollard was born in Baynes Spa Fields (later renamed Exmouth Street) in Islington, the son of the painter and publisher Robert Pol ...
at Tate Britain
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
Love the Lea project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lea, River
Luton
Ramsar sites in England