The Tottenham Marshes are located 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 ...

in the

London Borough 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 t ...

. The

marshes A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

cover over and became part of 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, ...

in 1972. The marsh is made up of three main areas: Clendish Marsh, Wild Marsh West and Wild Marsh East. The latter two are separated by the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of t ...

Description

The marshes are one of the last remaining examples of semi-natural wetland in

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 ...

. They contain a variety of plant communities typical of a former flood plain location, such as a range of neutral grassland types, sedge marsh, reed swamp, sallow scrub and areas of tall herb vegetation. Associated with this diversity of habitat are several species of plant and insect which are rarely seen in London.

History

The of marshes were originally a

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the

. But significant changes have been made over the years. Between the 1860s and 1930 a range of facilities including tennis courts and swimming were available but after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

between 1946 and 1960 the area was used for gravel extraction and

landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

. In the late 19th century the Wild Marsh East was bisected when the River Lea was diverted to accommodate the construction of some 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 topogr ...

. The marsh was the first home ground of

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in 1882. 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 ...

(LVRPA), created by an Act of Parliament in 1965, bought Tottenham Marshes in 1972.London Parks Grants News
Retrieved 5 July 2008

Ecology

Plants Many species of plants can be found on the marsh including: *Wall bedstraw (''

Galium parisiense ''Galium parisiense'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae known by the common name wall bedstraw. A native of the Mediterranean area and Western Europe, it has become naturalised in North America and other parts of Europe. De ...

'') *Yellow vetchling (''

Lathyrus aphaca ''Lathyrus aphaca'', known as the yellow pea or yellow vetchling, is an annual species in the family Fabaceae with yellow flowers and solitary, pea-like fruits. It originated in the Middle East and has spread throughout Europe and beyond as ...

'') *Bee orchid (''

Ophrys apifera ''Ophrys apifera'', known in Europe as the bee orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Orchidaceae. It serves as an example of sexually deceptive pollination and floral mimicry, as well as of a highly selective and highly evolved ...

'') *Babington's poppy (''

Papaver ''Papaver'' is a genus of 70–100 species of frost-tolerant annuals, biennials, and perennials native to temperate and cold regions of Eurasia, Africa and North America. It is the type genus of the poppy family, Papaveraceae. Description The ...

dubilum'') *Wurzell's wormwood (''

Artemisia vulgaris ''Artemisia vulgaris'', the common mugwort, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is one of several species in the genus ''Artemisia'' commonly known as mugwort, although ''Artemisia vulgaris'' is the species most ...

'' × '' verlotiorum'') Butterflies * Brown argus (''Aricia agestis'') Birds *

Skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...

(''Alauda arvensis'') *

Short-eared owl The short-eared owl (''Asio flammeus'') is a widespread grassland species in the family Strigidae. Owls belonging to genus ''Asio'' are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or ...

(''Asio flammeus'')

References

External links

Friends of Tottenham Marshes

Tottenham Marshes information
{{Parks and open spaces in London Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Haringey Marshland in London Lee Valley Park

Marshes A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...