The subterranean or underground rivers of London are or were the direct or indirect

tributaries 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 drainage b ...

of the upper estuary of the Thames (the Tideway), that were built over during the growth of the metropolis of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. They now flow through culverts, with some of them now integral parts of London's sewerage system and diverted accordingly.

Subterranean rivers in London

North of the River Thames

* Black Ditch *

Hackney Brook The Hackney Brook is one of the subterranean rivers of London. It crossed the northern parts of the current London boroughs of Hackney and Islington, emptying into the River Lea at Old Ford, with its source in Holloway. Course of the River ...

* The

River Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

(all three subtributaries via the

Lea Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...

) * Muswell Stream''London's Lost Rivers''
(2011) Paul Talling, Random House, pp148-150 (sub-sub-tributary via

Pymmes Brook Pymmes Brook is located in North London and named after William Pymme, a local land owner. It is a minor tributary of the River Lea. The brook mostly flows through urban areas and is particularly prone to flooding in its lower reaches. To a ...

) * The

Walbrook Walbrook is a City ward and a minor street in its vicinity. The ward is named after a river of the same name. The ward of Walbrook contains two of the City's most notable landmarks: the Bank of England and the Mansion House. The street runs ...

* The

River Fleet The River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers, all of which today contain foul water for treatment. Its headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath, each of which was dammed into a series of ponds—the Hampstead Ponds an ...

, crossing

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

* The

River Tyburn The River Tyburn was a stream (bourn) in London, its main successor sewers emulate its main courses but it resembled the Colne in its county of Middlesex in that it had many distributaries (inland mouths). It ran from South Hampstead, through M ...

* The

River Westbourne The Westbourne or Kilburn is a culverted small River Thames tributary in London, rising in Hampstead and Brondesbury Park and which as a drain unites and flows southward through Kilburn and Bayswater (west end of Paddington) to skirt underne ...

** The

Tyburn Brook Tyburn Brook was a small tributary stream to the West Bourne or Westbourne and ran mainly in Hyde Park for a few hundred metres south by south-west. It has lost its catchment to natural drainage into the gravelly topsoil and to surface water, f ...

Counter's Creek Counter's Creek, ending in Chelsea Creek, the lowest part of which still exists, was a stream that flowed from Kensal Green, by North Kensington and flowed south into the River Thames on the Tideway at Sands End, Fulham. Its remaining open water ...

* Stamford Brook **Parrs Ditch *

River Brent The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. in length, it rises in the Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tideway stretch of the Thame ...

(partially underground) *

River Rom The River Rom, also known as the River Beam below its confluence with the Ravensbourne, is a tributary of the River Thames in England that flows through east London suburbs surrounding the metropolitan centre of Romford, part of it forming a sec ...

(partially underground) Culverted_mouth_of_the_Earl's_Sluice_at_Deptford_Wharf

Langbourne

The

Langbourne The Lorteburn or Langbourne is a lost stream or river, which ran in the east of the City of London, arising near to Aldgate, flowing south near to the Tower of London, and discharging into the River Thames. The stream appears to have been covered ...

or Lorteburn may have run in the east of the City of London. This would be a small stream or stream, arising in the vicinity of

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

and either joining the

or flowing directly into the

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 ...

. It is seldom included on maps or lists of lost rivers, but there is a shallow linear valley in that part of the city, first identified by Richard Kelsey's topographical survey in 1841. David Bentley interprets this as a stream called the Lorteburn recorded east of Seething Lane in the late 13th century. A 1603 article on London's Lost Rivers by Stow also mentions the Langbourne, here giving the route as running along

Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many corporate office ...

, Lombard Street, and Sherbourn Lane. Stow states that the river gave its name to the

Langbourn Langbourn is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London. It reputedly is named after a buried stream in the vicinity. It is a small ward; a long thin area, running in a west–east direction. Historically, Lombard Street and Fenchurch ...

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

South of the River Thames

* Earl's Sluice ** The

River Peck The River Peck is a small stream in London that was enclosed in 1823. The stream daylights on the west side of Peckham Rye Park. In South Bermondsey it flows into the Earl's Sluice which has its confluence with the Thames at Deptford Wharf. Pe ...

* The

River Neckinger The River Neckinger is a reduced subterranean river that rises in Southwark and flows approximately through that part of London to St Saviour's Dock where it enters the Thames. What remains of the river is enclosed and runs underground and most ...

* The

River Effra The River Effra is a former set of streams in south London, England, culverted and used mainly for storm sewerage. It had been a tributary of the Thames. Its catchment waters, where not drained to aquifer soakaways and surface water drains, ha ...

Heathwall Ditch The River Heathwall, more often known as the Heathwall Sewer, Heathwall Ditch or Heathwall Mill Pond was a set of field drainage ditches and a large mill pond in Battersea, London. It had two outlets into the Tideway, tidal Thames and its inlan ...

* The

Falconbrook The Falconbrook was a stream that rose in Balham and Tooting, draining much of those parishes then the south and west of the larger district of Battersea including Clapham Junction to enter the London reaches of the Thames. Before doing so it b ...

* The

Graveney Graveney is a relatively small but widely dispersed village located between Faversham and Whitstable in Kent, England. The main part of the village is located along the intersection of Seasalter Road, Sandbanks Road and Head Hill Road (at the rail ...

(sub tributary due to the Wandle) **

Norbury Brook Norbury Brook is a tributary of the River Wandle, that rises near Lower Addiscombe Road and flows north-west through Selhurst, Thornton Heath and Norbury to join the Wandle at south Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon. A short stretch of this is vis ...

* The

River Quaggy The River Quaggy (often the Quaggy River or simply Quaggy) is a river, in length, passing through the south-east London boroughs of Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham. In its lower reaches it is an urban river, in its upper reaches further from L ...

(partially underground) (sub tributary due to the Ravensbourne) * The

Beverley Brook Beverley Brook is a minor English river long in south-west London. It rises in Worcester Park and joins the River Thames to the north of Putney Embankment at Barn Elms. Course Beverley Brook rises at the top of a hill in a shady area at Cuddi ...

(partially underground) * Sudbrook (partially underground) :''sub-tributaries are shown indented''

Development

In June 2008, the office of Mayor of London published outline plans to reinstate some

underground river A subterranean river is a river that runs wholly or partly beneath the ground surface – one where the riverbed does not represent the surface of the Earth. It is distinct from an aquifer, which may flow like a river but is contained within a per ...

s. In January 2009, a partnership among 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 ...

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

, The River Restoration Centre, and the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and the ...

set out a strategy for putting this into effect by creating the London Rivers Action Plan.

References

External links

* * * * * {{cite web, url=http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/285-londons-lost-rivers , title=Strange Maps, website= London's Lost Rivers Subterranean London

Subterranean rivers in London

North of the River Thames

Langbourne

South of the River Thames

Development

See also

References

Further reading

External links