74-645: The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea , in the south-east of Great Britain . An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salinity). For this reason the limits of the Thames Estuary have been defined differently at different times and for different purposes. This limit of the estuary has been defined in two main ways: The transition between
148-594: A large part of south-eastern and a small part of western England; the river is fed by at least 50 named tributaries . The river contains over 80 islands . With its waters varying from freshwater to almost seawater, the Thames supports a variety of wildlife and has a number of adjoining Sites of Special Scientific Interest , with the largest being in the North Kent Marshes and covering 20.4 sq mi (5,289 ha). According to Mallory and Adams,
222-508: A network of creeks. Lying below sea level, it is prone to flooding at exceptional tides, but has nevertheless been inhabited since Roman times. The usually quoted source of the Thames is at Thames Head (at grid reference ST980994 ). This is about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) north of the village of Kemble in southern Gloucestershire , near the town of Cirencester , in the Cotswolds . However, Seven Springs near Cheltenham , where
296-609: A success and subsequently further buoys and beacons were lit by Trinity House using the same system, in the Estuary and beyond. Today the Port of London Authority's Thames Navigation Service (established in 1959) is responsible for buoyage, beaconage and bridge lights on the Tideway. Trinity House remains responsible for aids to navigation in the wider estuary (and beyond). Download coordinates as: This table shows, from west to east,
370-639: A summer venue for organised swimming, which is prohibited on safety grounds in a stretch centred on Central London . After the river took its present-day course, many of the banks of the Thames Estuary and the Thames Valley in London were partly covered in marshland , as was the adjoining Lower Lea Valley . Streams and rivers like the River Lea , Tyburn Brook and Bollo Brook drained into
444-403: A twice-weekly visit by a boatman for cleaning and maintenance). Broadness was lit by Pintsch gas , and Stoneness by a Lindberg light (which burned petroleum naphtha ). At the same time Trinity House began experimenting with the application of lamps to buoys, using Pintsch's oil-gas system, beginning with three in the Thames Estuary (East Oaze, Ovens and Sheerness Middle); the experiment was deemed
518-625: Is 30 wind turbines generating typically 82.4MW of electricity. The much larger 630 MW London Array was inaugurated in 2013. The term Greater Thames Estuary applies to the coast and the low-lying lands bordering the estuary. These are characterised by the presence of mudflats, low-lying open beaches, and salt marshes , namely the North Kent Marshes and the Essex Marshes. Human-made embankments are backed by reclaimed wetland grazing areas, but rising sea levels may make it necessary briefly to flood some of that land at spring tides , to take
592-471: Is a landmark on the Boat Race course, while Glover's Island forms the centre of a view from Richmond Hill . Islands of historical interest include Magna Carta Island at Runnymede , Fry's Island at Reading, and Pharaoh's Island near Shepperton. In more recent times Platts Eyot at Hampton was the place where Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB)s were built, Tagg's Island near Molesey was associated with
666-463: Is an archetypal, well-developed economy urban, upper river estuary with its sedimentary deposition restricted through manmade embankments and occasional dredging of parts. It is mainly a freshwater river about as far east as Battersea , insofar as the average salinity is very low and the fish fauna consists predominantly of freshwater species such as roach , dace , carp , perch , and pike . It becomes brackish between Battersea and Gravesend , and
740-402: Is an important water source, especially in the drier months, so maintaining its quality and quantity is extremely important. Groundwater is vulnerable to surface pollution, especially in highly urbanised areas. Brooks, canals and rivers, within an area of 3,842 sq mi (9,951 km ), combine to form 38 main tributaries feeding the Thames between its source and Teddington Lock . This
814-649: Is believed that Tamesubugus' name was derived from that of the river. Tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography ( c. AD 700 ). The river's name has always been pronounced with a simple t /t/ ; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese and the Brittonic form Tamesis . A similar spelling from 1210, "Tamisiam" (the accusative case of "Tamisia"; see Kingston upon Thames § Early history ),
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#1732780465568888-604: Is formed for much of its length for shipping and supplies: through the Port of London for international trade, internally along its length and by its connection to the British canal system. The river's position has put it at the centre of many events in British history, leading to it being described by John Burns as "liquid history". Two broad canals link the river to other rivers: the Kennet and Avon Canal ( Reading to Bath ) and
962-697: Is found in Magna Carta . The Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis . Historically, and especially in Victorian times, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the Isis from its source down to Dorchester on Thames and that only from this point, where the river meets the Thame and becomes the "Thame-isis" (supposedly subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so called. Ordnance Survey maps still label
1036-452: Is responsible for managing the flow of water to help prevent and mitigate flooding, and providing for navigation: the volume and speed of water downstream is managed by adjusting the sluices at each of the weirs and, at peak high water, levels are generally dissipated over preferred flood plains adjacent to the river. Occasionally, flooding of inhabited areas is unavoidable and the agency issues flood warnings. Due to stiff penalties applicable on
1110-948: Is shared by many other river names in Britain, such as the River Tamar at the border of Devon and Cornwall , several rivers named Tame in the Midlands and North Yorkshire , the Tavy on Dartmoor , the Team of the North East, the Teifi and Teme of Wales , the Teviot in the Scottish Borders and a Thames tributary, the Thame . Kenneth H. Jackson proposed that the name of
1184-558: Is sometimes called the Isis), Reading , Henley-on-Thames and Windsor . The Thames also drains the whole of Greater London . The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway , derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock . Its tidal section includes most of its London stretch and has a rise and fall of 23 ft (7 m). From Oxford to the estuary, the Thames drops by 55 metres (180 ft). Running through some of
1258-482: Is the accessway for the Port of London (including London Gateway, associated Tilbury and Purfleet) and the Medway Ports of Sheerness , Chatham and Thamesport . The traditional Thames sailing barge worked in this area, designed to be suitable for the shallow waters in the smaller ports. A 2000s-decade-built wind farm is 8.5 km north of Herne Bay, Kent , on a shoal south-west of Kentish Knock . It
1332-404: Is the usual tidal limit ; however, high spring tides can raise the head water level in the reach above Teddington and can occasionally reverse the river flow for a short time. In these circumstances, tidal effects can be observed upstream to the next lock beside Molesey weir , which is visible from the towpath and bridge beside Hampton Court Palace . Before Teddington Lock was built in 1810–12,
1406-743: The River Isis , is a river that flows through southern England including London . At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom , after the River Severn . The river rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire and flows into the North Sea near Tilbury , Essex and Gravesend , Kent, via the Thames Estuary . From the west, it flows through Oxford (where it
1480-811: The Berwyn Mountains in North Wales . About 450,000 years ago, in the most extreme Ice Age of the Pleistocene , the Anglian , the furthest southern extent of the ice sheet reached Hornchurch in east London, the Vale of St Albans, and the Finchley Gap . It dammed the river in Hertfordshire , resulting in the formation of large ice lakes, which eventually burst their banks and caused
1554-541: The British Geological Survey from the banks of the tidal River Thames contain geochemical information and fossils which provide a 10,000-year record of sea-level change. Combined, this and other studies suggest that the Thames sea-level has risen more than 30 m during the Holocene at a rate of around 5–6 mm per year from 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. The rise of sea level dramatically reduced when
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#17327804655681628-570: The Churn (which feeds into the Thames near Cricklade ) rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source, as this location is farthest from the mouth and adds some 14 mi (23 km) to the river's length. At Seven Springs above the source is a stone with the Latin hexameter inscription "Hic tuus o Tamesine pater septemgeminus fons", which means "Here, O Father Thames, [is] your sevenfold source". The springs at Seven Springs flow throughout
1702-684: The Grand Union Canal (London to the Midlands). The Grand Union effectively bypassed the earlier, narrow and winding Oxford Canal which remains open as a popular scenic recreational route. Three further cross-basin canals are disused but are in various stages of reconstruction: the Thames and Severn Canal (via Stroud ), which operated until 1927 (to the west coast of England), the Wey and Arun Canal to Littlehampton , which operated until 1871 (to
1776-604: The Maplin Sands (1841) and at Gunfleet (1856). Meanwhile, one of the outlying sandbanks of the Estuary was marked by a lightvessel at Kentish Knock (in 1840); and in due course the southern approach was marked by lightvessels at the Tongue (1847) and Girdler (1848) sands, with another being added (between these two) in the Princes Channel (1856). In 1851 two more screw-pile lighthouses were built further upriver, on
1850-489: The River Lea can be considered another boundary. Most of the local riverside was also marshland. The land was drained and became farmland; it was built on after the Industrial Revolution . Canvey Island in southern Essex (area 18.45 km , 7.12 sq mi; population 40,000 ) was once marshy, but is now a fully reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, separated from the mainland of south Essex by
1924-662: The Royal Academy , London , in 1785. They are now on show at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley). Richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called * (p)lowonida . This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium , from the Indo-European roots * pleu- "flow" and * -nedi "river" meaning something like
1998-504: The Thames Barrier , which protects central London from flooding by storm surges . Below the barrier, the river passes Woolwich , Thamesmead , Dagenham , Erith , Purfleet , Dartford , West Thurrock , Northfleet , Tilbury and Gravesend before entering the Thames Estuary near Southend-on-Sea . The sea level in the Thames estuary is rising and the rate of rise is increasing. Sediment cores up to 10 m deep collected by
2072-549: The Thanetian stage of the late Palaeocene epoch. Until around 500,000 years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire , before turning to the north-east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near present-day Ipswich . At this time the river-system headwaters lay in the English West Midlands and may, at times, have received drainage from
2146-786: The East and West Barrows, the Nob, the Knock, Kentish Knock , the John, the Sunk, the Girdler, and Long Sand/the Long Sands. Shallow-bottomed barges and coasters would navigate the swatchways at flood tide, and would cross the sand banks at spitways, points where the water was least shallow, and just deep enough at that point of the tide. If they missed the moment they would heave to (lay anchor) and wait for
2220-649: The Essex marshes. His The Mirror of the Sea (1906) contains a memorable description of the area as seen from the Thames. He refers to this area in the first pages of his novel Heart of Darkness , describing it as both the launching place of England's great ships of exploration and colonization and, in ancient times, the site of colonization of the British Isles by the Roman Empire. The form of speech of many of
2294-523: The Netherlands, for example). Instead, coastal navigators and pilots relied on the use of transits (the alignment of prominent structures or natural features on land) for guidance. In 1566 Trinity House of Deptford (which oversaw pilotage on the Thames) was empowered to 'make, erect and set up [...] beacons, marks and signs for the sea' (albeit at its own expense). Not long afterwards, the decay of
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2368-633: The North Sea, and the Thames Barrier was built in the 1980s to protect London from this risk. The Nore is the sandbank that marks the mouth of the Thames Estuary , where the outflow from the Thames meets the North Sea . It is roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Until 1964 it marked the seaward limit of the Port of London Authority. As
2442-730: The Princes-Queens Channel and the South Channel to the south, to a lesser extent the Kings Channel and the Swin to the north. The Swin was used by barges and leisure craft from the Essex rivers, and coasters and colliers from the north east. These channels were made up of natural troughs; Yantlet Channel (Sea Reach), Oaze Deep, Knock John Channel, Black Deep/ Black Deep Channel which have been much-marked. These are separated by slow-moving sandbanks with names such as
2516-550: The River Thames on the Tideway include the rivers Crane , Brent , Wandle , Ravensbourne (the final part of which is called Deptford Creek ), Lea (the final part of which is called Bow Creek ), Roding (Barking Creek), Darent and Ingrebourne . In London, the water is slightly brackish with sea salt, being a mix of sea and fresh water. This part of the river is managed by the Port of London Authority . The flood threat here comes from high tides and strong winds from
2590-574: The Thames Estuary and the North Sea has been located at various notional boundaries, including: The estuary just east of the Tideway has a tidal range of 4 metres. Winds excluded, it moves at 2.6 knots (4.8 km/h; 3.0 mph) in bi-monthly spring tides. The estuary is one of the largest of 170 such inlets on the coast of Great Britain . It constitutes a major shipping route , with thousands of movements each year, including: large oil tankers , container ships , bulk carriers (of loose materials/liquids), and roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ferries. It
2664-480: The Thames Estuary), the river is subject to tidal activity from the North Sea . Before the lock was installed, the river was tidal as far as Staines, about 16 mi (26 km) upstream. London, capital of Roman Britain , was established on two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill . These provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames. A river crossing
2738-521: The Thames as "River Thames or Isis" down to Dorchester. Since the early 20th century this distinction has been lost in common usage outside of Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis is nothing more than a truncation of Tamesis , the Latin name for the Thames. Sculptures titled Tamesis and Isis by Anne Seymour Damer are located on the bridge at Henley-on-Thames , Oxfordshire (the original terracotta and plaster models were exhibited at
2812-493: The Thames is not Indo-European (and of unknown meaning), while Peter Kitson suggested that it is Indo-European but originated before the Britons and has a name indicating "muddiness" from a root *tā- , 'melt'. Early variants of the name include: Indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name "Thames" is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit (Tamesubugus made [this]). It
2886-567: The Thames, from Middle English Temese , is derived from the Brittonic name for the river, Tamesas (from * tamēssa ), recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys "Thames". The name element Tam may have meant "dark" and can be compared to other cognates such as Russian темно ( Proto-Slavic * tĭmĭnŭ ), Lithuanian tamsi "dark", Latvian tumsa "darkness", Sanskrit tamas and Welsh tywyll "darkness" and Middle Irish teimen "dark grey". The origin
2960-642: The Thames. The Swin (the northern approach) was marked with buoys at the easternmost points of the Gunfleet, Middle and Buxey sands, and by beacons on the Whitaker, Shoe and Blacktail spits. A buoy marked the easternmost point of the Nore sandbank at this time, and three more buoys marked sandbanks in the middle part of the estuary (Spaniard, Red Sand and the Oaze). The Nore Lightship , the world's first lightvessel ,
3034-727: The case of the Colne ), and man-made distributaries such as the Longford River . Three canals intersect this stretch: the Oxford Canal , Kennet and Avon Canal and Wey Navigation . Its longest artificial secondary channel (cut), the Jubilee River , was built between Maidenhead and Windsor for flood relief and completed in 2002. The non-tidal section of the river is managed by the Environment Agency , which
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3108-480: The coastline. Where higher land reaches the coast, there are some larger settlements, such as Clacton-on-Sea to the north in Essex, Herne Bay, Kent , and the Southend-on-Sea area within the narrower part of the estuary. The Thames Estuary is the focal part of the 21st-century toponym, the " Thames Gateway ", designated as one of the principal development areas in Southern England. The Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission report published in June 2018 identified
3182-423: The confluence, the overall length of the Thames measured from Seven Springs, at 229 mi (369 km), is greater than the Severn's length of 220 mi (350 km). Thus, the "Churn/Thames" river may be regarded as the longest natural river in the United Kingdom. The stream from Seven Springs is joined at Coberley by a longer tributary which could further increase the length of the Thames, with its source in
3256-478: The diversity of freshwater fish is smaller, primarily roach and dace. Euryhaline species then dominate, such as flounder , European seabass , mullet , and smelt . Further east salinity increases and conditions become fully marine and the fish fauna resemble that of the adjacent North Sea , a spectrum of euryhaline and stenohaline types. An alike pattern of zones applies to the aquatic plants and invertebrates. Joseph Conrad lived in Stanford-le-Hope close to
3330-468: The drier parts of mainland Britain and heavily abstracted for drinking water, the Thames' discharge is low considering its length and breadth: the Severn has a discharge almost twice as large on average despite having a smaller drainage basin . In Scotland , the Tay achieves more than double the Thames' average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs . Its catchment area covers
3404-492: The economic potential of the region. In 2020 the Thames Estuary Growth Board was appointed, led by government-appointed Envoy Kate Willard OBE, to unlock the potential of the UK's number one green growth opportunity. Entrepreneurs and investors have looked at the greater estuary as a possible place for a new airport , and have expanded Southend Airport in the 2010s, which has a rail link to Liverpool Street station , London among others. The Thames flowing through London
3478-453: The established local accents. The term London Accent is generally avoided, as it can have many meanings. Forms of "Estuary English", as a hybrid between Received pronunciation and various London accents, can be heard in all of the New Towns, all of the coastal resorts, and in the larger cities and towns along the Thames Estuary. For commercial shipping rounding the Nore sandbank and thus accessing Greater London, main deep-water routes were
3552-412: The flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river. The river gives its name to three informal areas: the Thames Valley , a region of England around the river between Oxford and West London; the Thames Gateway ; and the greatly overlapping Thames Estuary around the tidal Thames to the east of London and including the waterway itself. Thames Valley Police is a formal body that takes its name from
3626-533: The grounds of the National Star College at Ullenwood . The Thames flows through or alongside Ashton Keynes , Cricklade , Lechlade , Oxford , Abingdon-on-Thames , Wallingford , Goring-on-Thames and Streatley (at the Goring Gap ), Pangbourne and Whitchurch-on-Thames , Reading , Wargrave , Henley-on-Thames , Marlow , Maidenhead , Windsor and Eton , Staines-upon-Thames and Egham , Chertsey , Shepperton , Weybridge , Sunbury-on-Thames , Walton-on-Thames , Molesey and Thames Ditton . The river
3700-404: The ice melt nearly concluded over the past 4,000 years. Since the beginning of the 20th century, rates of sea level rise range from 1.22 mm per year to 2.14 mm per year. The Thames River Basin District, including the Medway catchment, covers an area of 6,229 sq mi (16,130 km ). The entire river basin is a mixture of urban and rural, with rural landscape predominating in
3774-416: The impresario Fred Karno and Eel Pie Island at Twickenham was the birthplace of the South East's R&B music scene. Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster (commonly known today as the Houses of Parliament ) were built on Thorney Island , which used to be an eyot . Researchers have identified the River Thames as a discrete drainage line flowing as early as 58 million years ago, in
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#17327804655683848-437: The navigation lights of the River Thames between London Bridge and Yantlet was transferred by Act of Parliament from the Thames Conservancy to the Corporation of Trinity House ; responsibility for buoyage was transferred likewise in 1878. In 1885 the beacons at Broadness and Stoneness were replaced with iron-frame experimental lighthouses, each lit by a novel system which would allow the light to function unattended (except for
3922-416: The next tide. Recreational craft are expected use channels most suited to the size of their vessel. Their main guide says to use when navigating to or from: To cross the south-east quarter of the estuary large vessels use Fisherman's Gat , and small vessels to were expected to use Foulger's Gat . Provision of buoys and beacons for the purpose of navigation came relatively late to England (compared to
3996-426: The non-tidal river, which is a drinking water source before treatment, sanitary sewer overflow from the many sewage treatment plants covering the upper Thames basin should be rare in the non-tidal Thames. However, storm sewage overflows are still common in almost all the main tributaries of the Thames despite claims by Thames Water to the contrary. Below Teddington Lock (about 55 mi or 89 km upstream of
4070-708: The northern foreshore of Sea Reach: at Mucking and on the Chapman sands (just off Canvey Island ). Prior to 1684 beacons were set up on the mudflats north of the Swin channel, to help vessels approaching the Thames from the north to navigate the sands. Pan-sand Beacon was set up by Trinity House in 1774 to mark a dangerous sandbank on the southern approach. Similar daymarks were set up on other nearby sandbanks in later years, including on Margate Hook (1843), Middle Ground (1844) and Shingles (1846). Trinity House also maintained beacons further upriver, including at Broadness (established in 1821), Stoneness (1839), Erith (1830) and Tripcock (1832). In 1864 responsibility for maintaining
4144-434: The people of the area, principally the accents of those from Kent and Essex, is often known as Estuary English . The term is a term for a milder variety of the "London Accent". The spread of Estuary English extends many hundreds of miles outside London, and all of the neighbouring home counties around London have residents who moved from London and brought their version of London accents with them, leading to interference with
4218-448: The pressure off the defences and main watercourses. There are many smaller estuaries in Essex, including the rivers Colne , Blackwater and Crouch . Small coastal villages depend on an economy of fishing, boat-building, and yachting. The Isle of Sheppey , the Isle of Grain , Canvey Island , Two Tree Island , Havengore Island , New England Island , Rushley Island , Potton Island , Foulness Island and Mersea Island are part of
4292-547: The principal navigation lights, buoys and other marks to the north (port) and south (starboard) of the main deep-water channels of the River Thames from Gallions Reach to the Sunk Light Float. The Thames is in IALA region A so port buoys are red and starboard buoys are green. Racon T Racon T Notes wiki 51°30′N 0°35′E / 51.500°N 0.583°E / 51.500; 0.583 River Thames The River Thames ( / t ɛ m z / TEMZ ), known alternatively in parts as
4366-534: The river passes Pimlico and Vauxhall , and then forms one of the principal axes of the city, from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower of London . At this point, it historically formed the southern boundary of the medieval city, with Southwark , on the opposite bank, then being part of Surrey . Beyond central London, the river passes Bermondsey , Wapping , Shadwell , Limehouse , Rotherhithe , Millwall , Deptford , Greenwich , Cubitt Town , Blackwall , New Charlton and Silvertown , before flowing through
4440-437: The river to divert onto its present course through the area of present-day London. The ice lobe which stopped at present-day Finchley deposited about 14 metres of boulder clay there. Its torrent of meltwater gushed through the Finchley Gap and south towards the new course of the Thames, and proceeded to carve out the Brent Valley in the process. Southend Airport Too Many Requests If you report this error to
4514-439: The river was tidal at peak spring tides as far as Staines upon Thames . In descending order, non-related tributaries of the non-tidal Thames, with river status, are the Churn , Leach , Cole , Ray , Coln , Windrush , Evenlode , Cherwell , Ock , Thame , Pang , Kennet , Loddon , Colne , Wey and Mole . In addition, there are occasional backwaters and artificial cuts that form islands, distributaries (most numerous in
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#17327804655684588-530: The river, covering three counties . In non-administrative use, the river's name is used in those of Thames Valley University , Thames Water , Thames Television , publishing company Thames & Hudson , Thameslink (north–south rail service passing through central London ) and South Thames College . An example of its use in the names of historic entities is the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company . Marks of human activity, in some cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain , are visible at various points along
4662-399: The river, while some islands, e.g. Thorney Island , formed over the ages. The northern tip of the ancient parish of Lambeth , for example, was marshland known as Lambeth Marshe , but it was drained in the 18th century; the street names Lower Marsh and Upper Marsh preserve a memory. Until the middle of the Victorian era, malaria was commonplace beside the River Thames, even in London, and
4736-467: The river. These include a variety of structures connected with use of the river, such as navigations, bridges and watermills , as well as prehistoric burial mounds . The lower Thames in the Roman era was a shallow waterway winding through marshes. But centuries of human intervention have transformed it into a deep tidal canal flowing between 200 miles of solid walls; these defend a floodplain where 1.5 million people work and live. A major maritime route
4810-494: The sandbank was a major hazard for shipping coming in and out of London, in 1732 it received the world's first lightship . This became a major landmark, and was used as an assembly point for shipping. Today it is marked by Sea Reach No. 1 Buoy. The River Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey and Canvey Island to small tree-covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire and Headpile Eyot in Berkshire. They are found all
4884-419: The south coast), and the Wilts & Berks Canal . Rowing and sailing clubs are common along the Thames, which is navigable to such vessels. Kayaking and canoeing also take place. Major annual events include the Henley Royal Regatta and the Boat Race , while the Thames has been used during two Summer Olympic Games : 1908 ( rowing ) and 1948 ( rowing and canoeing ). Safe headwaters and reaches are
4958-415: The steeple of Margate Church (an important landmark for negotiating 'the Narrows', a complex route between sandbanks used by vessels sailing to or from London along the North Kent coast) led to Trinity House marking the Narrows with buoys in the late 16th century. In his coastal survey of 1682-93, Greenvile Collins records five buoys around the Narrows, just north of Reculver , on the southern approach to
5032-652: The way from Fiddler's Island in Oxfordshire to the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Some of the largest inland islands, for example Formosa Island near Cookham and Andersey Island at Abingdon, were created naturally when the course of the river divided into separate streams. In the Oxford area the river splits into several streams across the floodplain ( Seacourt Stream , Castle Mill Stream , Bulstake Stream and others), creating several islands ( Fiddler's Island , Osney and others). Desborough Island , Ham Island at Old Windsor and Penton Hook Island were artificially created by lock cuts and navigation channels. Chiswick Eyot
5106-412: The western part. The area is among the driest in the United Kingdom. Water resources consist of groundwater from aquifers and water taken from the Thames and its tributaries, much of it stored in large bank-side reservoirs . The Thames itself provides two-thirds of London's drinking water, while groundwater supplies about 40 per cent of public water supplies in the overall catchment area. Groundwater
5180-417: The year, while those at Thames Head are seasonal (a winterbourne ). With a length of 215 mi (346 km), the Thames is the longest river entirely in England. (The longest river in the United Kingdom, the Severn , flows partly in Wales .) However, as the River Churn, sourced at Seven Springs, is 14 mi (23 km) longer than the section of the Thames from its traditional source at Thames Head to
5254-479: Was built at the site of London Bridge . London Bridge is now used as the basis for published tide tables giving the times of high tide . High tide reaches Putney about 30 minutes later than London Bridge, and Teddington about an hour later. The tidal stretch of the river is known as "the Tideway ". Tide tables are published by the Port of London Authority and are available online. Times of high and low tides are also posted on Twitter. The principal tributaries of
5328-635: Was established in the Estuary as a private venture in 1732 to mark the 'best position for entering the Thames and Medway, and to clear the Nore Sand'. The coastwise approach from the north was aided by the establishment of the Sunk lightvessel in 1802 'to mark the north-east entrance to East Swin, and to guide vessels round Long Sand'. Later, the Swin channel was further marked by lightvessels at Swin Middle (1837) and Mouse (1838), and by screw-pile lighthouses on
5402-463: Was frequently lethal. Some cases continued to occur into the early 20th century. Draining of the marshes helped with its eradication, but the causes are complex and unclear. The East End of London , also known simply as the East End , was the area of London east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames, although it is not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries;
5476-617: Was subject to minor redefining and widening of the main channel around Oxford, Abingdon and Marlow before 1850, when further cuts to ease navigation reduced distances further. Molesey faces Hampton , and in Greater London the Thames passes Hampton Court Palace , Surbiton , Kingston upon Thames , Teddington , Twickenham , Richmond (with a famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), Syon House , Kew , Brentford , Chiswick , Barnes , Hammersmith , Fulham , Putney , Wandsworth , Battersea and Chelsea . In central London ,
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