90-691: A feature of the geology of England , the Needwood Basin extends beneath the eastern part of the Midlands county of Staffordshire . It is a depositional basin which was initiated during the Permian period and continued to receive sediment during the Triassic period and perhaps thereafter. Part of a more extensive set of linked basins, it connects with the Stafford Basin to the west,
180-604: A subduction zone on the margin of the Gondwana continent. Some material may have accreted from volcanic island arcs which formed further out in the ocean and later collided with Gondwana as a result of plate tectonic movements. The igneous activity had started by 730 million years ago and continued until around 570 million years ago, resulting in a region of volcanic islands within a shallow sea. The remains of these islands underlie much of central England with small outcrops visible in various places. Around 600 million years ago,
270-594: 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,
360-536: A line running from Bristol to London. In the Ribble valley, Lancashire in north west England the resulting drumlins are clearly visible. Cromer Ridge in East Anglia is a terminal moraine . Indeed, most of East Anglia is covered with glacial till which has produced its rich loamy soils. This unconsolidated material (it is not stuck tightly together) is very easily eroded hence the rapid rate of retreat of
450-508: 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
540-639: 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
630-471: 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
720-402: 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
810-649: 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 ),
900-604: 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
990-697: 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
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#17327914200421080-409: Is recognisable in the landscape of its counties , the building materials of its towns and its regional extractive industries . The bedrock consists of many layers formed over vast periods of time. These were laid down in various climates as the global climate changed, the landmasses moved due to continental drift , and the land and sea levels rose or fell. From time to time horizontal forces caused
1170-700: Is represented in gravel beds around rivers such as the Thames . As the ice caps retreated northwards, more fluvio-glacial deposition occurred for example in the Vale of York No rocks earlier than the Proterozoic occur at surface within England. The Proterozoic lasted from (2,500–541 Ma ). The early geological development of the Avalonia terrane , including England, is believed to have been in volcanic arcs near
1260-452: 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
1350-948: 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
1440-558: 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
1530-759: Is still being debated. As the Jurassic period started, Pangaea began to break up and sea levels rose, as England drifted on the Eurasian Plate to between 30° and 40° north. With much of England under water again, sedimentary rocks were deposited and can now be found underlying much of southern England from the Cleveland Hills of Yorkshire to the Jurassic Coast in Dorset , including clays , sandstones, greensands , oolitic limestone of
1620-601: Is the area around Malham in the Yorkshire Dales with its limestone pavements , sink holes and shake holes . Gaping Gill contains a waterfall disappearing underground into the Carboniferous limestone. The formation of Carboniferous Limestone was followed by the deposition of dark marine shales , siltstones and coarse sandstones of the Millstone Grit , notably in the area later uplifted to form
1710-404: 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,
1800-531: Is thought that the country was eventually abandoned as the ice sheet reached its peak, being recolonised as it retreated. By 5,000 years ago it is thought that the British Isles were warmer than they are at present. Among the features left behind by the ice are the glaciated U-shaped valleys of the Lake District and erratics (blocks of rock) that have been transported by ice, including some from
1890-466: Is thus (uppermost, youngest at top): Geology of England The geology of England is mainly sedimentary . The youngest rocks are in the south east around London , progressing in age in a north westerly direction. The Tees–Exe line marks the division between younger, softer and low-lying rocks in the south east and the generally older and harder rocks of the north and west which give rise to higher relief in those regions. The geology of England
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#17327914200421980-744: 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
2070-811: 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
2160-588: The Bristol Channel floods in 1607. The British Isles continue to be subject to several very minor earthquakes each month, and occasional light to moderate ones. During the 20th century 25 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.5 to 6.1 on the Richter scale were felt, many of them originating within England itself. Notable was the Colchester earthquake in 1884 and the 2002 Dudley earthquake . Avalonia
2250-541: 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
2340-690: The Cadomian Orogeny (mountain building period) created mountains in what would subsequently become England, along with much of north west Europe . The Phanerozoic comprises the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras, each of which are represented in English geology. The Palaeozoic comprises six periods from the Cambrian to the Permian (539–252 Ma). In the early Cambrian period
2430-570: 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
2520-616: The Cotswold Hills , corallian limestone of the Vale of White Horse and the Isle of Portland . A particularly interesting Jurassic site is on the North Yorkshire coast between Staithes and Port Mulgrave . The burial of algae and bacteria below the mud of the sea floor during this time resulted in the formation of North Sea oil and natural gas , much of it trapped in overlying sandstone by salt deposits formed as
2610-632: 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
2700-732: The Hampshire region around this time. Rifting occurred within and around England, prior to the breakup of the super-continent in the Jurassic period. Rock fragments found near Bristol appear to indicate that in 214 million years ago England was showered with a fine layer of debris from an asteroid impact at the Manicouagan Impact Crater in Canada (when both areas were parts of the Pangaea supercontinent), although this
2790-632: The Ipswichian Stage , during which hippopotamus are known to have lived as far north as Leeds . The most recent glaciations occurred during the Devensian Stage , which is thought to have started around 75,000 years ago, peaked around 20,000 years ago and ended a mere 11,500 years ago. The valleys of the Lake District and parts of the Pennines were further eroded by glaciers , with the ice sheet itself reaching south to Birmingham. It
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2880-790: The Knowle Basin to the south and the Hinckley Basin to the southeast. Up to 600m of Permo-Triassic strata are recorded from the basin which is partially defined by the Sandon Fault to the west and the Burton Fault to the east. It is flanked in part to the southwest by the Cannock Coalfield and to the southeast by the Warwickshire Coalfield . The known Permo-Triassic stratigraphic sequence
2970-659: The Midlands and northern England. One of the best exposures of the Coal Measures is on the north east coast between Whitley Bay and Seaton Sluice . Around 280 million years ago, at the close of the Carboniferous period, the Variscan orogeny (mountain building period) caused major deformation in south west England. The general region of Variscan folding was south of an east–west line roughly from Avon to Kent , though lesser folding took place as far north as Derbyshire and Berwick-upon-Tweed . The main tectonic pressure
3060-648: The Oslo region and deposited on the coast of Yorkshire . Over the last twelve thousand years during the Holocene epoch the most significant new geological features have been the deposits of peat , as well as in coastal areas that have recently been artificially drained such as the Somerset Levels , The Fens and Romney Marsh . Since humans began clearing the forest during the New Stone Age , most of
3150-417: 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
3240-433: 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
3330-492: The Silurian period, sandstones and mudstones were deposited in some parts of England. Volcanic ashes and lavas deposited during the period are still found in the Mendip Hills . Avalonia had now joined with the continent of Baltica , and the combined landmass collided with Laurentia around 425 million years ago, joining the southern and northern halves of the British Isles together. The resulting Caledonian Orogeny produced an Alpine -style mountain range. England lay on
3420-441: 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
3510-420: 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
3600-419: The volcanoes and mountains of England were eroded as the land became flooded by a rise in sea level, and new layers of sediment were laid down. Cambrian shales laid down in a shallow sea are exposed in the Midlands at Nuneaton . Much of central England formed a stable block of crust which has remained largely undeformed ever since. Five hundred million years ago, in the Ordovician period, southern Britain,
3690-476: The London area sinking at double the speed partly due to the continuing compression of the recent clay deposits. A contributory factor is the draining of many stretches of land. In addition, rises in sea level thought to be due to global warming appear likely to make low-lying areas of land increasingly susceptible to flooding, while in some areas the coastline continues to erode at a geologically rapid rate. Recent flooding events leave geological evidence such as
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3780-411: 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
3870-477: The Pennine anticline . This sequence can be seen in the Yorkshire Dales with Ingleborough protruding up above the Carboniferous Limestone landscape below. Later, river deltas formed and the sediments deposited were colonised by swamps and rain forest . It was in this environment that the cyclic coal measures were formed. Coal can be found as far south as Kent with deposits stretching northwards to Tyne and Wear ; though coal has largely been mined in
3960-489: 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
4050-416: 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
4140-470: 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
4230-439: 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
4320-511: 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
4410-515: The Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (252–66 Ma). As Pangaea drifted during the Triassic period, England moved away from the equator until it was between 20° and 30° north. Red beds, including sandstones and red mudstones form the main sediments of the New Red Sandstone. The remnants of the Variscan uplands in France to the south were eroded down, resulting in layers of the New Red Sandstone being deposited across central England, and in faulted basins in Cheshire . A basin developed in
4500-404: The areas uplifted in the Variscan Orogeny (southwest England and adjacent areas in the present-day English Channel). Later, much of England was submerged in shallow waters as the polar ice sheets melted and the Tethys Ocean and Zechstein Sea formed, depositing shale , limestone , gravel , and marl , before finally receding to leave a flat desert with salt pans . The Mesozoic comprises
4590-423: 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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#17327914200424680-502: The coastline of this region. A similar situation exists in east Yorkshire in the Holderness district. The chalk outcrop at Flamborough Head in the north produces a headland relatively resistant to coastal erosion whilst the coastline south of this at such places as Mappleton and Hornsea with their soft glacial deposits are vulnerable. Former ice caps did not reach south of the line running from Bristol to London, so this area has only been impacted by fluvio-glacial deposition which
4770-423: 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
4860-504: The cooling rock provided the source of the extensive metalliferous deposits of the region (primarily copper and tin). Later weathering of the granite led to deposits of kaolin which has been excavated as it is an important source of china clay and ball clay used in the production of such products as porcelain and shiny printing paper. By the end of the period, England had a hot arid desert climate, with frequent flash floods leaving deposits that formed red beds, somewhat similar to
4950-468: 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
5040-454: The east coast of North America and south-east Newfoundland broke away from Gondwanaland to form the continent of Avalonia . The Skiddaw slates of the Lake District consist of metamorphosed marine sediments laid down on the northern margin of Avalonia. Large quantities of volcanic lava and ash known as the Borrowdale Volcanics covered the Lake District, still seen in the form of mountains such as Helvellyn and Scafell Pike . In
5130-412: 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
5220-504: The general lack of land-origin sand, mud or clay sediments around this time – some of the late Cretaceous strata are almost pure chalk. The Cenozoic comprises the Palaeogene , Neogene and Quaternary periods (66 Ma–present). In the early Palaeogene period between 63 and 52 million years ago, the last igneous rocks in England were formed. The granite Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel dates from this period. The Alpine Orogeny that took place from about 50 million years ago
5310-406: The geologically recent past. "Drift" geology is often more important than "solid" geology when considering building works, drainage, siting water boreholes, soil fertility, and many other issues. Glaciation and the resulting glacial and fluvio-glacial deposition has had a major impact on the landscape of England covering many areas with a veneer of glacial till in the lower lying areas north of
5400-533: 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
5490-404: 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
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#17327914200425580-416: 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
5670-415: The land has now been deforested , speeding the natural processes of erosion . Large quantities of stone, gravel and clay are extracted each year, and by 2000 11% of England was covered by roads or buildings. At the present time, due to Scotland's continuing to rise as a result of the weight of Devensian ice being lifted, England is sinking. This is generally estimated at 1 mm (1/25 inch) per year, with
5760-421: The landscape would have been broadly recognisable today. The major changes during the Pleistocene epoch have been brought about by several recent ice ages . The most severe was the Anglian Stage , with ice up to 1,000 m (3300 ft) thick in the northwest which thinned considerably as it reached as far south as London and Bristol. This glaciation took place between about 500,000 to 400,000 years ago, and
5850-424: The later, Triassic New Red Sandstone . After the end of the Carboniferous period, an intrusion of quartz dolerite formed the Whin Sill . The River Tees flows over this at High Force on the Alston Block . Whin Sill is also seen again at Hadrian's Wall . The country rock is Lower Carboniferous limestone and shales. The Permian period was characterised for 30 million years by arid desert and erosion of
5940-426: 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
6030-460: The period its name. Around 360 million years ago during the Carboniferous period, England was lying at the equator, covered by the warm shallow waters of the Rheic Ocean . During this time Carboniferous Limestone was deposited, as found in the Mendip Hills , in the Peak District of Derbyshire , north Lancashire and the northern Pennines . The erosion of this landscape by carbonation has led to very distinctive scenery. Particularly notable
6120-534: 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
6210-439: 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
6300-530: 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
6390-399: 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
6480-519: 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
6570-466: The rock to undergo considerable deformation , folding the layers of rock to form mountains which have since been eroded and overlain with other layers. To further complicate the geology, the land has also been subject to periods of earthquakes and volcanic activity. Overlain on this bedrock or "solid" geology is a somewhat variable distribution of soils and fragmental material deposited by glaciers ( boulder clay , and other forms of glacial drift in
6660-611: 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
6750-695: The seas fell to form the swamps and salty lakes and lagoons that were home to dinosaurs . After 20 million years during the Cretaceous period, the seas started to flood the land again until much of England was again below the sea, though sea levels frequently changed. Chalk and flints were deposited over much of England, now notably exposed at the White Cliffs of Dover and the Seven Sisters , and also forming Salisbury Plain . The high sea levels left only small areas of land exposed. This caused
6840-424: The skull of Swanscombe Man from 250,000 years ago, and the earlier Clactonian Man . Multiple glaciations occurred during Wolstonian Stage , between about 352,000 to 132,000 years ago. Thought to have peaked around 150,000 years ago, it was named after the town of Wolston south of Birmingham which is considered to mark the southern limit of the ice. The Wolstonian Stage was followed by interglacial climate of
6930-541: 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
7020-632: The southern fringe of this range. In the Devonian period, northern England was a region uplifted by the Caledonian Orogeny. The uplifted regions were gradually eroded down, resulting in the deposition of numerous sedimentary rock layers in lowlands and seas. The Old Red Sandstone was deposited across much of central and southern England. Sea levels varied considerably at this time with the coastline advancing and retreating from north to south across England. The Old Red Sandstone of Devon gave
7110-566: The start of the Palaeogene, but lost them through erosion. By 35 million years ago, the landscape included beech , oak , redwood and palm trees, along with grassland . In the Miocene and Pliocene epochs of the Neogene period, further uplift and erosion occurred, particularly in the Pennines. Plant and animal types developed into their modern forms, and by about 2 million years ago
7200-756: 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
7290-412: 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
7380-580: 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
7470-583: Was along old lines of weakness from the Caledonian and Variscan orogenies long before. The uplifted areas were then eroded, and further sediments were deposited over southern England, including the London Clay , while the English Channel consisted of mud flats and river deposited sands . Much of the Midlands and north of England may have been covered by Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits at
7560-613: Was an ancient microcontinent or terrane whose history formed much of the older rocks of Western Europe. The name is derived from the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland . England was almost entirely contained within the Avalonian block, as shown in the map, and thus shares its geolocation chronology. River Thames The River Thames ( / t ɛ m z / TEMZ ), known alternatively in parts as
7650-479: 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
7740-524: 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;
7830-621: Was from the south or south-west. Towards the end of the orogeny the emplacement of a large batholith of granite occurred below what is now Devon and Cornwall . This granite is now exposed as Dartmoor , Bodmin Moor and several other exposures in Cornwall, including the Isles of Scilly . Granite tors form important elements in the landscape in these areas. Metamorphism of the country rocks and hydrothermal circulation of metal-rich fluids in
7920-635: Was responsible for the diversion of the River Thames onto its present course. There is extensive evidence in the form of stone tools that southern England was colonised by human populations during the warm Hoxnian Stage period that followed the glaciation of the Anglian Stage. It is possible that the English Channel repeatedly opened and closed during this period, causing Britain to become an island from time to time. The oldest human fossils in these islands also date from this time, including
8010-657: Was responsible for the shaping of the London Basin syncline and the Weald anticline to the south. This orogeny also led to the development of the North Downs , South Downs and Chiltern Hills escarpments , and the near-vertical folds in south Dorset and the Isle of Wight . During the period England was uplifted leading to erosion and the formation of the Sub-Paleogene surface . Some of this uplift
8100-617: 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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