The River Thame is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

Southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...

. A

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, the river runs generally south-westward for about from its source above the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury to the Thames in south-east Oxfordshire.

Course

Three streams which rise within the

Vale of Aylesbury The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum (Hertfordsh ...

, on the northwest side of the Chiltern Hills, join to form the Thame to the east of the small village of Hulcott, north of Aylesbury. The Thame played a key role in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

when

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of t ...

(the town's

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

) led the force of Parliamentarians successfully defending Aylesbury at the Battle of Holman's Bridge, where a small road crosses the river, in 1642. The river passes by the 21st century small suburb of Watermead and around the north and west of Aylesbury, passing through farmland to the villages of Nether Winchendon and

Chearsley Chearsley is a village and civil parish within the Buckinghamshire district in the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated about seven miles south west of Aylesbury, and about four miles north of Thame, in Oxfordshire. Hist ...

before reaching the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

of Thame with which it shares its name. Thame is about east of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and grew from an Anglo-Saxon settlement beside the river. In Anglo-Saxon England, Thame is a recorded place in records of the Diocese of Dorchester. At Holton mill the Thame turns southward and after passing the villages of

Great Milton Great Milton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,042. The School Great Milton church of England primary school is a prominent part of the village community ...

and

Stadhampton Stadhampton is a village and civil parish about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Oxford in South Oxfordshire, England. Stadhampton is close to the River Thame, a tributary of the River Thames. The village was first mentioned by name in 1146, and was ...

, its valley widens. In this area in 1642 and 1643, the river acted as a line of defence for Royalist

. The bridges at Wheatley,

Cuddesdon Cuddesdon is a mainly rural village in South Oxfordshire centred ESE of Oxford. It has the largest Church of England clergy training centre, Ripon College Cuddesdon. Residents number approximately 430 in Cuddesdon's nucleated village centre a ...

Mill and Chiselhampton were key crossing points, with Chiselhampton Bridge playing a critical part in Prince Rupert's movements before and after the Battle of Chalgrove Field.

Confluence with the Thames

Finally the Thame reaches the village of

Dorchester on Thames Dorchester on Thames (or Dorchester-on-Thames) is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about northwest of Wallingford and southeast of Oxford. The town is a few hundred yards from the confluence of the River Thames and River Thame. A c ...

, Oxfordshire. As the suffix -chester indicates, a

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

settlement was on the site. The small town's central streets are typically Anglo-Saxon, being not quite straight and at various angles. The Saxon

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

here was superseded by Dorchester Abbey, a name since the English Reformation denoting its surviving structure which was its main building, the abbey church, built in 1170 that is in length and a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

at Grade I. In the far south of that parish, south of the town centre, the Thame flows into the

, between

Day's Lock Day's Lock is a lock on the River Thames near Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England on the Dorchester side of the river. The pound lock was built in 1789 by the Thames Navigation Commissioner. The lock is across the river from the s ...

and

Benson Lock Benson Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England, close to Benson, Oxfordshire but on the opposite bank of the river. The first pound lock here was built by the Thames Navigation Commission in 1788 and it was replaced by the present ma ...

. The upper River Thames has an alternative name,

The Isis "The Isis" () is an alternative name for the River Thames, used from its source in the Cotswolds until it is joined by the Thame at Dorchester in Oxfordshire. It derives from the ancient name for the Thames, ''Tamesis'', which in the Middle ...

, until this confluence.Ordnance Survey maps: marked ''River Thames or Isis''.

References

External links

River Thame Conservation Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thame Rivers of Buckinghamshire Rivers of Oxfordshire Thame

Course

Confluence with the Thames

See also

References

External links