NOVEMBER, 2019
THE RIVER THAMES
By: Liese Sherwood-Fabre
Nineteenth
century MP John
Burns described
the River
Thames as
“liquid history,”
with settlements
along its banks
going back to
Neolithic times.
(1) The name
itself is believed
to be the Latin
derivation Tame-
sis of its Celtic name Tamesas, meaning
dark. (2) At 215 miles, it runs from Cots-
wold, beginning as a small stream, through
London, and into the North Sea. (3)
To facilitate commercial traffic, the
river has more than forty locks that raise or
lower boats along the way. Some of these
locks date back more than 400 years and
are still operated by hand. In the late 1700s
various canals were constructed to create
trade routes to and from London, enrich-
ing the towns along the river as barges car-
ried coal, wool, grain, and timber to Lon-
don and other goods back to the country-
side until the latter 1800s when railroads
took over. (4)
Prior to the 1800s, the Thames would
sometimes freeze, and Londoners could
enjoy drinking and dancing on the ice at
Frost Fairs. While the river had always
been a dumping ground for the city‟s
waste, the introduction of indoor plumbing
increased the effluent into the river. It be-
came so polluted in 1858 that Parliament
was suspended because of the stench. Sir
Joseph Bazalgette designed a sewer system
that carried the waste further down the
river and introduced a filtration system.
Embankments were also created to speed
the river and carry off more mud. (5) As a
result of the swifter river flow, the Thames
no longer freezes and the last Frost Fair
occurred in 1814.
The Victorians also dredged the river
to increase its navigability and found nu-
merous artifacts in the process. Modern
day “Mudlarks” continue to forage the
river for bits of history still buried in the
mud along the Thames, dating back centu-
ries. Many of these items can be found in
displays at various London museums, in-
cluding the Museum of London and the
British museum. (6)
Following a declaration in the 1950s
that the river was biologically dead, efforts
to reclaim the waterway began. These in-
cluded improved sewage systems and con-
trol of pollutants as well as planting reed
beds on the Greenwich
Peninsula. As a result, the
water is now cleaner than
it has been in 150 years,
125 species of fish, includ-
ing salmon and sea trout,
and otters have returned,
more than 400 natural
habitats have been created. (7) Thanks to
such ecological efforts England‟s “liquid
history” continues to flow with a much
brighter future ahead.
(1) http://www.riverthames.co.uk/
cms/shared/display.php?path=3274#ice
(2) http://www.pla.co.uk/News/
Thames-history
(3) http://www.visitthames.co.uk/
about-the-river
(4) http://www.smithsonianmag.com/
history/the-long-and-winding-history-of-
the-thames-139049496/?all
(5) http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/
content/articles/2009/03/17/
river_thames_facts_feature.shtml
(6) http://www.archaeology.co.uk/
articles/features/liquid-history-excavating-
londons-great-river-the-thames.htm
(7) http://www.smithsonianmag.com/
history/the-long-and-winding-history-of-
the-thames-139049496/?all
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