| Lea Lee | |
|---|---|
 River Lea atHertford Basin | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Counties | Bedfordshire,Hertfordshire,Essex,Greater London |
| Towns | Leagrave,Luton,Harpenden,Hatfield,Hertford,Ware,Hoddesdon,Broxbourne,Waltham Abbey,Enfield Town,Edmonton,Tottenham,Clapton,Stratford,Bow,Canning Town |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Leagrave,Luton |
| • coordinates | 51°54′37″N0°27′40″W / 51.910338°N 0.461233°W /51.910338; -0.461233 |
| • elevation | 115 m (377 ft) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Bow Creek,River Thames |
• coordinates | 51°30′26″N0°00′33″E / 51.5072°N 0.0092°E /51.5072; 0.0092 |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Length | 68 km (42 mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Luton Hoo,Luton |
| • average | 1.8 m3/s (64 cu ft/s) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Feildes Weir,Hoddesdon |
| • average | 4.3 m3/s (150 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Designation | |
| Official name | Lea Valley |
| Designated | 9 October 2000 |
| Reference no. | 1037[1] |
TheRiver Lea (/ˈliː/LEE) is in theEast of England andGreater London. It originates inBedfordshire, in theChiltern Hills, and flows southeast throughHertfordshire, along theEssex border and intoGreater London, to meet theRiver Thames atBow Creek. It is one of the largest rivers in London and the easternmost major tributary of the Thames.
The river's significance as a major east–west barrier and boundary has tended to obscure its importance as a north–south trade route. BelowHertford the river has since medieval times had alterations made to make it more navigable for boats between the Thames and eastern Hertfordshire andEssex, known as theLee Navigation. This stimulated much industry along its banks. The navigableRiver Stort, the main tributary, joins it atHoddesdon.
While the lower Lea remains somewhat polluted, its upper stretch and tributaries, classified aschalk streams, are a major source of drinking water for London. An artificial waterway known as theNew River, opened in 1613, abstracts clean water away from the upper stretch of the river near Hertford for drinking. The Lea's origin in the Chilterns contributes to the extremehardness (high mineral content) of London tap water.[2]
The name of the River Lea was first recorded in the 9th century, although is believed to be much older. Spellings from theAnglo-Saxon period includeLig(e)an in 880 andLygan in 895, and in the early medieval period it is usuallyLuye orLeye. It seems to be derived from aCeltic (brythonic) rootlug-meaning 'bright or light' which is also the derivation of a name for a deity, so the meaning may be 'bright river' or 'river dedicated to the godLugus'.[3][4] A simpler derivation may well be the Brythonic word cognate with the modern Welsh "Li" pronounced "Lea" which means a flow or a current.[citation needed]
Much of the middle Lea was historically known as 'Mereditch', the first element deriving from theOld English ‘gemaera’, meaning boundary. This was due to that section of the river’s role as the dividing line between territories, for instance separating Middlesex and Essex. By the 20th century 'Mereditch' had evolved to 'Mare Dyke' and referred to just one channel of the river betweenChingford andEnfield. The channel was replaced by parts of theLee Valley Reservoir Chain in the mid 20th century.[5][6]
The River Lea is the major component in a number of place-names, includingLeagrave, the suburb ofLuton where the source of the river is located, and ofLuton andLeyton: both mean"farmstead on the River Lea".[7]
The spellingLea predominates west (upstream) ofHertford, but both spellings (Lea andLee) are used from Hertford to theRiver Thames. TheLee Navigation was established by Acts of Parliament and only that spelling is used in this context. TheLee Valley Regional Park Authority also uses this spelling for leisure facilities. However, the spellingLea is used for road names, locations and other infrastructure in the capital, such asLeamouth,Lea Bridge, theLea Valley Walk and theLea Valley lines (railway). This spelling is also used in geology, archaeology, etc. to refer to theLea Valley.
The termRiver Lea isCockney rhyming slang for tea.[8]
The line of the Lea, and its major tributary, the Stort, has long been used as a political boundary. In theIron Age the Lea and Stort valleys formed a hotly contested frontier zone between theCatuvellauni to the west and the easternTrinovantes.[9] The two rivers are assumed to have been the boundary between the core territory of theKingdom of the East Saxons and itsMiddle Saxon Province.[10] The whole of the Lea was subsequently used as the boundary between English-ruled territory to the west and theDanelaw, established in the late 9th century, to the east.
From around the ninth or tenth century, and the establishment ofcounties in this part of England, the Lea-Stort line has formed the historic boundary betweenEssex to the east andHertfordshire andMiddlesex to the west. Within London the river is always used as a boundary between London Boroughs - which in turn inherit more ancient county and parish boundaries which also used the Lea as a boundary. Between 1889 and 1965, the lower Lea was the eastern boundary of theCounty of London withEssex.[11]
When reviewing the boundaries of London's parliamentary constituencies, theBoundary Commission treats the Thames and Lea as London's major internal barriers. It will not allow a new or altered constituency that spans either river, viewing such a construct as artificial and not reflective of local communities or identities. They have compromised on this further south, on the lower Lea, where the quality and quantity of cross-river links is much greater, and the communities on either side better integrated as a result.[12]
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Thesource of the Lea is usually said to be at Well Head insideWaulud's Bank, aNeolithichenge atLeagrave Common inLuton,Bedfordshire, although just downstream the river is joined byHoughton Brook, a stream that starts 2 miles (3 km) further west inHoughton Regis.
After passing through Luton, the young river passes through theLuton Hoo estate and, six miles from its source, entersHertfordshire. The river then flows east-south-east throughHarpenden,Wheathampstead – once capital of theCatuvellauni tribe – through the narrow green gap between the new towns ofHatfield andWelwyn Garden City, and on to thecounty town ofHertford.
At Hertford the shallow river turns briefly north before turning to head due south, and here the river and its surrounding areas change significantly. Around Hertford, the Lea is joined by a number of major tributaries: theMimram,Beane,Rib,Ash, and then theStort.
This extra volume of water has created a broad flood plain with sometimes steep hills on either side. The river passes through this valley in several channels, which are a result of both human intervention and natural causes. The increased flow made the river navigable from Hertford, a situation improved by the creation of theLee Navigation, a deep canal which begins atHertford Castle Weir.
The Stort, the most important tributary of the Lea, joins a short distance from Hertford atFeildes Weir, and is itself navigable as far upstream asBishops Stortford. TheHertford East railway line passes along the west side of the Lea's flood plain, from Hertford to Tottenham, improving the accessibility of the area and contributing to theribbon development that made the character of the west side of the valley much more developed than the east.
Just after Hertford, the river passes the medieval river port ofWare and the Hertfordshire bank soon becomes entirely developed. On the west bank the river passesHoddesdon,Broxbourne andCheshunt in Hertfordshire; thenEnfield,Edmonton,Tottenham andTottenham Marshes in north London. On the eastern side the river passesWaltham Abbey on the largely rural Essex bank, and thenChingford andWalthamstow in east London.
South of Hertford, the river is lined by lakes; to the north these are primarily flooded former gravel pits but in London they are reservoirs: the 13 reservoirs of theLee Valley Reservoir Chain, fed by the branches of the river known as theRiver Lee Flood Relief Channel and theRiver Lee Diversion. These reservoirs come to an end on the boundaries of the London Boroughs ofHaringey andHackney and form part of a broad undeveloped green space, a mile (800 m) wide in places, which extends deep into London.
OnHackney's northern edge, the Lea shifts to a south-south-easterly direction, the reservoirs end, but the broad green corridor continues as the river passes throughWalthamstow Marshes,Leyton Marshes,Hackney Marshes and theQueen Elizabeth Olympic Park. In that park, and just to the south of it, the river's course splits, running almost entirely in man-made channels, theBow Back Rivers. These channels were once much more numerous and originally created to power water mills including, at the southern end, the restored tidal mill calledThree Mills. The area around the Bow Back Rivers subsequently became a thriving industrial zone. AroundBow Creek, major industry prevailed, including theThames Ironworks,Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks andWest Ham Power Station. In the 1960s and 1970s, changing economic conditions led to a steep decline anddeindustrialisation along this section of the Lea.
The river was historically tidal as far north asHackney Wick, but now the tide is held back by theBow Locks between Bromley-by-Bow and West Ham. Although watercraft can follow the Lea down to the Thames, it is generally more practical to follow theLimehouse Cut (which meets the Lea at Bow Locks) down toLimehouse Basin, and use theLimehouse Basin Lock to join the Thames.
The communities on the west side of the lower Lea includeHackney,Bow andBromley-by-Bow. On the east side, they include southern parts ofWalthamstow, thenLeyton,Stratford andWest Ham. The last few miles of the river are known asBow Creek and the river meets the Thames betweenBlackwall (on the west side) andCanning Town (on the east).
In theRoman era,Old Ford, as the name suggests, was the most downstream crossing point of the River Lea. This was part of a pre-Roman route that followed the modernOxford Street,Old Street, throughBethnal Green toOld Ford and then across a causeway through the marshes known asWanstead Slip (now in Leyton). The route then continued through Essex toColchester. At this time, the Lea was a wider river, and the tidal estuary stretched as far asHackney Wick.[13] Evidence has been found of a lateRoman settlement at Old Ford, dating from the 4th and 5th centuries.
In 1110,Matilda, wife ofHenry I, reputedly took a tumble at the ford, on her way toBarking Abbey and ordered adistinctively bow-shaped, three-arched, bridge to be built over the River Lea (The like of which had not been seen before), at Bow, the first bridge over the lower Lea. The lower Lea was at that time a wide, tidal and unchannelled river, so the construction of the bridge allowed a far greater degree of social and economic integration between Essex on one side and Middlesex (including the City of London) on the other than had been possible before.
Lea Bridge, the second bridge over the lower Lea was built after 1757, to replace the pre-existing ferry.[14] It connectedClapton to the west, andLeyton andWalthamstow to the east. The Iron Bridge carrying the Barking Road over the river toCanning Town was built in 1810. There are significantly more crossings over the more centralLower Lea, than there are over theMiddle Lea.[15]
During theMiddle Ages,Temple Mills,Abbey Mills, Old Ford and Bow were the sites of water mills (mainly in ecclesiastic ownership) that supplied flour to the bakers of Stratforde-atte-Bow, and hence bread to the City. It was the channels created for these mills that caused the Bow Back Rivers to be cut through the former Roman stone causeway at Stratford (from which the name is derived).
The River Lea flows through the old brewing andmalting centre ofWare, and consequently transport by water was for many years a significant industry based there. Barley was transported into Ware, and malt out via the river, in particular to London. Bargemen born in Ware were given the "freedom of the River Thames" — avoiding the requirement of paying lock dues — as a result of their transport of fresh water and food to London duringThe Great Plague of 1665–66. A local legend says that dead bodies were brought out of London at that time via the river for burying in Ware, but there is no evidence for this.[16]
The extensive level of waterborne trade led the historianJohn Stow, writing in 1603, to describe the Lea as "this pleasant and useful river".[17]
The riverside has hosted a number of major armaments manufacturers, such as theWaltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills, theRoyal Small Arms Factory atEnfield Lock (which is now a housing development known asEnfield Island Village) and theCongreve Rocket Factory on the site ofStratford Langthorne Abbey.
The river Lea formed an important part of the development of one of the UK's historically most important aircraft manufacturers,AVRO. The railway arch where A.V. Roe in 1909 built and achieved the first all-British powered flight still stands next to the river Lea on theWalthamstow Marshes.
Improvements were made to the river from 1424, with tolls being levied to compensate the landowners, and in 1571, there were riots after the extension of the River was promoted in a private bill presented to theHouse of Commons. By 1577, the first lock was established at Waltham Abbey and the river began to be actively managed for navigation.[18]
TheNew River was constructed in 1613 to take clean water to London, from the Lea and its catchment areas in Hertfordshire and bypass the polluting industries that had developed in the Lea's downstream reaches.[19] The artificial channel further reduced the flow to the natural river and by 1767 locks were installed below Hertford Castle Weir on thecanalised part of the Lea, now the Lee Navigation with further locks and canalisation taking place during the succeeding centuries. In 1766, work also began on theLimehouse Cut to connect the river, atBromley-by-Bow, with the Thames atLimehouse Basin.[19]
TheWaterworks River, a part of the tidalBow Back Rivers, has been widened by 8 metres (26 ft) and canalised to assist with construction of theOlympic Park for the2012 Summer Olympics. In 2009,Three Mills Lock was installed on thePrescott Channel to maintain water levels on the Lea, within the park at a depth of 2 metres (7 ft). This allowed access to the site by 350–tonne barges with the aim that at least half of the material required for construction could be delivered or removed by water.[20]
In January 2024, the River Lea burst its banks as Hackney Wick residents tell of 'knee-high' flood water.[21]
Millfields Park on the Lea atHackney, is the reputed site of a victory ofAescwine ofEssex overOcta of Kent in 527, which allowed Aescwine to become the firstKing of Essex.[22] However, the historicity of these events and the very existence of Aescwine are disputed.
Somewhere between 878 and 890, theTreaty of Alfred and Guthrum was drawn up that amongst other things used the course of the Lea to define the border between the Danes and the English. In 894, a force ofDanes sailed up the river to Hertford,[23] and in about 895 they built a fortified camp, in the higher reaches of the Lea, about 20 miles (32.2 km) north of London.Alfred the Great saw an opportunity to defeat the Danes and dug a new channel to lower the level of the river, leaving the Danes stranded.[24]
In 1216, during theFirst Barons' War, the futureLouis VIII of France besiegedHertford Castle for a month, leading to its surrender. He only held the castle for a relatively short time as he lost the war soon after.[25]
In 1648 during thesecond English Civil War a Royalist force crossed the Thames from Greenwich and hoped to cross Bow Bridge, over the Lea and into Essex. After inconclusive clashes with theTower Hamlets Militia and other Parliamentarian forces, an engagement known as theBattle of Bow Bridge, the Royalists headed forColchester and were besieged there.[26]
During WWI, parts of London on either side of the Lea were badly hit by German Army and Navy airship raids. It is believed the crews mistook the extensive reservoir chain for the Thames and released their bombs on what they took to be central London.[27]
The ecological, landscape and recreational importance of the river and its surrounding land has been recognised through inclusion in a number of parks and by several planning policy designations.
Much of the river lies within theLee Valley Park. Some of the land surrounding the river has been designated asMetropolitan Green Belt orMetropolitan Open Land in order to prevent further urbanisation.
The river contains fish and other wildlife such as the occasionalseal.[28]
Some boat trippers reported observing on 5 August 2005 aCanada goose being pulled underwater very quickly. TheLondon Wildlife Trust suggested that this was most likely caused by apike.[29]
In 2011, Mike Wells claimed that he saw a "goose go vertically down" in the river. Again a pike ormink was suggested as most likely.[30]Vice Magazine suggested that Wells' story may have been invented to publicise authorities' attempts to evict houseboats from the area that year, ahead of the2012 Olympic Games.[31]
The river is threatened by pollution, with sewage frequently discharged into the river as well as less common events causing major damage, such as an oil leak in 2018,[32] or the toxicrunoff from a warehouse fire in 2019.[33] The sewage pollution, as well as that of fertiliser washed in from agricultural fields causeseutrophication, an excess of nutrients, which not only unbalances theecosystem, but also leads to de-oxygenation of the water.
Dumping, litter andmicroplastics are a major problem on the Lea with much of this waste arriving in the river in sewage.[34] In April 2021,Hackney Council wrote to theEnvironment Agency calling for action to address sewage discharge and pollution in the river.[35] In November 2021, local volunteers stated they were removing 100 kg ofplastic pollution from the Lower Lea every month.[36]
Water extraction, for drinking water, farming and industry, has led to a reduction in river flow impacting wildlife and concentrating the pollutants present in the remaining river water.
Projects such as that led byThames21 installingreedbeds help to remove pollutants whilst oxygenating the water, as well as creating habitat for the likes ofwater voles and improving the aesthetics of the man-made concrete sections of the canalised river.[37]
In their early days,Tottenham Hotspur played their games atTottenham Marshes on the Middle Lea whileLeyton Orient have had a number of home grounds in theLower Lea Valley, with both having their current grounds within a mile of the river.West Ham United was established as the works team of theThames Ironworks, a shipyard which straddled either side of the Lea at its confluence with the Thames.
The 2012 Olympics was focused in theQueen Elizabeth Olympic Park on the banks of the Lea, and its main Stadium, on an island between two branches of the river, is now home to West Ham United. TheLee Valley White Water Centre in Hertfordshire is another sporting legacy of the games.
Various versions of the nursery rhymeLondon Bridge Is Falling Down make reference to Bow Bridge. The oldest known version could be that recalled by a correspondent to theGentleman's Magazine in 1823, in which he claimed to have heard from a woman who was a child in the reign ofCharles II (r. 1660–1685) and had the lyrics:
London Bridge is broken down,
Dance over the Lady Lea;
London Bridge is broken down,
With a gay lay-dee.
There are anumber of theories about the identity of theFair Lady, including the idea that it may refer toMatilda,[38] the builder of Bow Bridge and its neighbours, or that it may apply to the River Lea itself.[39]
The poemA Tale of Two Swannes is set along the River Lea. It was written byWilliam Vallans and published in 1590.[40]
The old course of the river is the one featured in the early chapters of the classic fishing bookThe Compleat Angler byIzaak Walton. The author begins at Tottenham and proceeds upriver from there.
A guide to walking along the river valley was written by Leigh Hatts,[41] and an account of a walk along the complete length of the river in 2009 was published as a blog by "Diamond Geezer".[42]
In 2014, German writerEsther Kinsky published a novel,Am Fluß, now available in English asRiver, translated by Iain Galbraith,[43] based around her walks along the lower Lea from the marina at Horseshoe Point to its confluence with the Thames.
In 2015, singer-songwriterAdele dedicateda track to the river on her third studio album,25.[citation needed]
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| Next confluence upstream | River Thames | Next confluence downstream |
| River Ravensbourne (south) | River Lea | River Roding (north) |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
