Waterworks River in Stratford - geograph

Waterworks River is a river, at one time a tidal river, in 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 ...

, one of the Bow Back Rivers that flow into the Bow Creek part of 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 ...

, which in turn flows into the River Thames. The river is an artificial channel, cut for the Stratford Waterworks (later purchased by the

East London Waterworks Company The East London Waterworks Company was one of eight private water companies in London absorbed by the Metropolitan Water Board in 1904. The company was founded by Act of Parliament in 1806, and in 1845 the limits of supply were described as ''" ...

) in 1743, from the Old River Lee channel (above Old Ford Lock), to supply a reservoir at Saynes Mill, Stratford. It was widened to in the 1930s, as part of a project to prevent flooding in Stratford. The channel is lined for large stretches with concrete slabs, though sections through the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park have been landscaped to a more natural setting. Whilst running through the park, which hosted 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 ...

, the river forms the border between the London Aquatics Centre on one bank, and the Olympic Stadium on the other. ''Steles (Waterworks)'' by artist Keith Wilson was the first artwork completed in the Olympic Park. It consists of thirty-five brightly coloured

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

-like sculptures rising from the river.

References

Rivers of London Geography of the London Borough of Newham {{England-river-stub

See also

References