The River Roding () rises at

Molehill Green Molehill Green is a hamlet in Takeley parish in Essex, England, close to the perimeter of London Stansted Airport, The hamlet consists of approximately forty houses and lies about north of Takeley village. It has one pub called ''The Three Hor ...

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 ...

, England, then flows south through Essex and London and forms

Barking Creek Barking Creek joins the River Roding to the River Thames. It is fully tidal up to the Barking Barrage (a weir), which impounds a minimum water level through Barking. In the 1850s, the creek was home to England's largest fishing fleet and a Vic ...

as it reaches 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 ...

Course

The river leaves Molehill Green and passes through or near a group of eight or nine villages in Essex known collectively as the Rodings, as their names are 'Roding' prefixed with various different specific names (High, Margaret, Aythorpe etc.). After

Chipping Ongar Chipping Ongar () is a market town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ongar, in the Epping Forest District of the county of Essex, England. It is located east of Epping, southeast of Harlow and northwest of Brentwood. In 2020 th ...

, the river flows under the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

by Passingford Bridge and

Abridge Abridge is a village in Essex, England. It is on the River Roding, southwest of the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Epping Forest (district), Epping Forest and in the parliamentary constituency of Brentwood and Onga ...

River Mead, Roding Valley Meadows - geograph

The river then runs between

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

and

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the London U ...

, where the

Roding Valley Meadows Roding Valley Meadows is an biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Buckhurst Hill in Essex. It is part of a 65.2 hectare Local Nature Reserve with the same name, which is owned by Epping Forest District Council and Grange Farm Trust, ...

make up the largest surviving area of traditionally managed river-valley habitat in Essex. This

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

consists of unimproved wet and dry hay meadows, rich with flora and fauna and bounded by thick hedgerows, scrubland, secondary woodland and

tree plantation A tree plantation, forest plantation, plantation forest, timber plantation or tree farm is a forest planted for high volume production of wood, usually by planting one type of tree as a monoculture forest. The term ''tree farm'' also is used to ...

. The meadows stretch down to the

M11 motorway The M11 is a motorway that runs north from the North Circular Road (A406) in South Woodford to the A14, northwest of Cambridge, England. Originally proposed as a trunk road as early as 1915, various plans were considered throughout the 1960s ...

and the

Roding Valley tube station Roding Valley is a London Underground station situated in Buckhurst Hill in the Epping Forest (district), Epping Forest district of Essex, straddling the boundary between that council and Greater London (the London Borough of Redbridge). The st ...

is situated close to the area, although

Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and adjacent to the northern boundary of the London Borough of Redbridge. The area developed following the o ...

are better placed for a visit. The river then enters

Woodford Woodford may refer to: Places Australia *Woodford, New South Wales *Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region *Woodford, Victoria Canada * Woodford, Ontario England *Woodford, Cornwall * Woodford, Gloucestershire *Woodford, Greate ...

. Redbridge takes its name from a crossing of the river which then passes through Ilford and

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

near the A406

North Circular Road The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London in England. It runs from Chiswick in the west to Woolwich in the east via suburban North London, connecting ...

. The River Roding through Ilford project is a government backed scheme to improve amenities along this stretch of the river. After Barking the tidal section is known as Barking Creek, which flows into the Thames at

Creekmouth Creekmouth is an area of Barking in east London, England. It is best known for its large industrial estate. The industrial area around River Road and Thames Road is one of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham's largest employment areas. Cr ...

, where the Barking Barrier acts as a flood defence.

As a boundary

In Essex the river forms part of the boundary between the district of

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

and borough of Brentwood. The river marks the southernmost part of the boundary between the

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

and the

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham () is a London borough in East London. It lies around 9 miles (14.4 km) east of Central London. It is an Outer London borough and the south is within the London Riverside section of the Thames G ...

Former name

Ilford takes its name from ''Ilefort'', "ford on the River Hyle", which was the ancient name for the lower part of the Roding.

References

External links

River Roding at Passingford Bridge

The River Roding Trust
Rivers of London Rivers of Essex Geography of the London Borough of Newham Geography of the London Borough of Redbridge Geography of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Epping Forest District 1Roding {{England-river-stub

Course

As a boundary

Former name

See also

References

External links