1.
Port of London
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The Port of London lies along the banks of the River Thames from the capital to the North Sea. Once the largest port in the world, it is currently the United Kingdoms second largest port, the port is governed by the Port of London Authority, a public trust established in 1908, whose responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames. The port can handle cruise liners, roll-on roll-off ferries, and it is not located in one area - it stretches along the tidal river, including central London, with many individual wharfs, docks, terminals and facilities built incrementally over the centuries. The Port of London has been central to the economy of London since the founding of the city in the 1st century and was a contributor to the growth. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was the busiest port in the world, with wharves extending continuously along the Thames for 11 miles, in World War II it was a prime target for the Luftwaffe during The Blitz. The first evidence of a reasonable sized trading in London can be seen during Roman control of Britain, the construction involved expanding the waterfront using wooden frames filled with dirt. Once these were in place the wharf was built in four stages moving downstream from the London Bridge, the port began to rapidly grow and prosper during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and saw its final demise in the early 5th century with the decline in trade activity. The changes made to the banks along the port made by the Romans are so substantial, London became a very important trading port for the Romans at its height in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The harbour town grew and expanded quickly, the lavish nature of goods traded in London shaped the extravagant lifestyle of its citizens and the city flourished under Roman colonization. The Roman expansion of facilities and organisation of the London harbour have remained as the base of the London harbour until today. Until the beginning of the 19th century, shipping was handled entirely within the Pool of London on the stretch of the River Thames along Billingsgate on the side of the City of London. All imported cargoes had to be delivered for inspection and assessment by Customs Officers, the Pool saw a phenomenal increase in both overseas and coastal trade in the second half of the 18th century. Two thirds of coastal vessels using the Pool were colliers meeting an increase in the demand for coal as the population of London rose, coastal trade virtually doubled between 1750 and 1796 reaching 11,964 vessels in 1795. In overseas trade, in 1751 the pool handled 1,682 ships and 234,639 tons of goods, by 1794 this had risen to 3,663 ships and 620,845 tons. By this time the river was lined with nearly continuous walls of wharves running for miles along both banks, and hundreds of ships moored in the river or alongside the quays, the three great horseshoe bends would be cut off with locks, as huge wet docks. This was not realised, though a smaller channel, the City Canal, was subsequently cut across the Isle of Dogs. Londons Docklands had their origins in the lack of capacity in the Pool of London which particularly affected the West India trade, throughout the 19th century a series of enclosed dock systems was built, surrounded by high walls to protect cargoes from river piracy. These included West India Docks, East India Docks, London Docks, Surrey Commercial Docks, St Katharine Docks, Royal Victoria Dock, Millwall Dock, Royal Albert Dock, and Tilbury docks
2.
Tideway
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The Tideway is the part of the River Thames in England that is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock and in its widest definition is just under 160 kilometres long, the Tideway includes the Thames Estuary, the Thames Gateway and the Pool of London. London Bridge is used as the basis for published tide tables giving the times of high tide, high tide reaches Putney about 30 minutes later. Low-lying banks of London have been defended against natural vulnerability to flooding by storm surges, the Thames Barrier was constructed across the Thames at Woolwich to deal with this threat. The Tideway is managed by the Port of London Authority and is referred to as the Port of London. The upstream limit of its authority is marked by an obelisk just short of Teddington Lock, the PLA is responsible for one lock on the Thames, Richmond Lock. In London, the Thames is policed by the Thames Division, essex Police and Kent Police have responsibilities for the rest of the Tideway. 21st century criminal investigations have included the Roberto Calvi and Torso in the Thames cases, the London Fire Brigade has a fire boat on the river. As a result, there are four stations on the Thames, at, Teddington, Chiswick Pier, Tower Pier. The river is navigable to large ocean-going ships as far as the Pool of London at London Bridge and is the United Kingdoms second largest port by tonnage. Most trade is handled by the Port of Tilbury, ro-ro ferry terminals at Dagenham and Dartford, there is a speed limit of 8 knots west of Wandsworth Bridge and in tributary creeks, and except for authorised vehicles,12 knots between Wandsworth Bridge and Margaretness. The tidal river is used for leisure navigation and this section is not suitable for sporting activity because of the strong stream through the bridges. Rowing has a significant presence upstream of Putney Bridge, while sailing takes place in the same area, the annual Great River Race for traditional rowed craft takes place over the stretch from Greenwich to Ham. Thames meander challenges along the length of the Thames from Lechlade often pass through the London sections and finish well downstream, the Grand Union Canal joins the river at Brentford, with a branch – the Regents Canal – joining at Limehouse Basin. The other part of the network still connecting on the Tideway is the River Lea Navigation. Narrow low-lying belts beside the tidal section of the Thames regularly flood at spring tides, one such example exists at Chiswick Lane South, where the river, as pictured, overflows this road a few times per year. Although water quality has improved over the last 40 years and efforts to clean up the Tideway have led to the reintroduction of marine life and birds, the environment of the Tideway is still poor. Heavier rainfall in London causes overflows from pipes on the banks from the standard type of sewer in the capital
3.
River Thames
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The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England, most notably through London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and it also flows through Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise, in Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs and its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, in 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world – the $350,000 International Riverprize. The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas, recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys Thames. It has also suggested that it is not of Celtic origin. A place by the river, rather than the river itself, indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name Thames is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit. It 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. The rivers name has always pronounced with a simple t /t/, the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. A similar spelling from 1210, Tamisiam, is found in the Magna Carta, the Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as River Thames or Isis down to Dorchester, 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 *lowonida. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word, for merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the London River. Londoners often refer to it simply as the river in such as south of the river. Thames Valley Police is a body that takes its name from the river. The marks of human activity, in cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river
4.
Kent
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Kent /ˈkɛnt/ is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south west, the county also shares borders with Essex via the Dartford Crossing and the French department of Pas-de-Calais through the Channel Tunnel. France can be clearly in fine weather from Folkestone and the White Cliffs of Dover. Hills in the form of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge span the length of the county, because of its relative abundance of fruit-growing and hop gardens, Kent is known as The Garden of England. The title was defended in 2006 when a survey of counties by the UKTV Style Gardens channel put Kent in fifth place, behind North Yorkshire, Devon. Haulage, logistics, and tourism are industries, major industries in north-west Kent include aggregate building materials, printing. Coal mining has played its part in Kents industrial heritage. Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt and its transport connections to the capital. Twenty-eight per cent of the county forms part of two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the North Downs and The High Weald, the area has been occupied since the Palaeolithic era, as attested by finds from the quarries at Swanscombe. The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era, There is a rich sequence of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley. The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word Cantus meaning rim or border and this describes the eastern part of the current county area as a border land or coastal district. Julius Caesar had described the area as Cantium, or home of the Cantiaci in 51 BC, the extreme west of the modern county was by the time of Roman Britain occupied by Iron Age tribes, known as the Regnenses. East Kent became a kingdom of the Jutes during the 5th century and was known as Cantia from about 730, the early medieval inhabitants of the county were known as the Cantwara, or Kent people. These people regarded the city of Canterbury as their capital, in 597, Pope Gregory I appointed the religious missionary as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity, the Diocese of Canterbury became Britains first Episcopal See with first cathedral and has since remained Englands centre of Christianity. The second designated English cathedral was in Kent at Rochester Cathedral, in the 11th century, the people of Kent adopted the motto Invicta, meaning undefeated. This naming followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy, the Kent peoples continued resistance against the Normans led to Kents designation as a semi-autonomous county palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of Williams half-brother Odo of Bayeux, the county was granted powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales
5.
Essex
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Essex /ˈɛsᵻks/ is a county in England immediately north-east of London. It borders the counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, the county town is Chelmsford, which is the only city in the county. Essex occupies the part of the old Kingdom of Essex, before this. As well as areas, the county also includes London Stansted Airport, the new towns of Basildon and Harlow, Lakeside Shopping Centre, the port of Tilbury. Originally recorded in AD527, Essex occupied territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating all of what later became Middlesex and its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lea. In changes before the Norman conquest the East Saxons were subsumed into the Kingdom of England and, following the Norman conquest, Essex became a county. During the medieval period, much of the area was designated a Royal forest, including the county in a period to 1204. Gradually, the subject to forest law diminished, but at various times included the forests of Becontree, Chelmsford, Epping, Hatfield, Ongar. County-wide administration Essex County Council was formed in 1889, however County Boroughs of West Ham, Southend-on-Sea and East Ham formed part of the county but were unitary authorities. 12 boroughs and districts provide more localised services such as rubbish and recycling collections, leisure and planning, parish-level administration – changes A few Essex parishes have been transferred to other counties. Before 1889, small areas were transferred to Hertfordshire near Bishops Stortford, Essex became part of the East of England Government Office Region in 1994 and was statistically counted as part of that region from 1999, having previously been part of the South East England region. Two unitary authorities In 1998 the boroughs of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock were granted autonomy from the county of Essex after successful requests to become unitary authorities. Essex Police covers the county and the two unitary authorities. The county council chamber and main headquarters is at the County Hall in Chelmsford, before 1938 the council regularly met in London near Moorgate, which with significant parts closer to that point and the dominance of railways had been more convenient than any place in the county. It currently has 75 elected councillors, before 1965, the number of councillors reached over 100. The highest point of the county of Essex is Chrishall Common near the village of Langley, close to the Hertfordshire border, the pattern of settlement in the county is diverse. Epping Forest also acts as a barrier to the further spread of London. Part of the southeast of the county, already containing the population centres of Basildon, Southend and Thurrock, is within the Thames Gateway
6.
Navigation
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Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. The field of navigation includes four categories, land navigation, marine navigation, aeronautic navigation. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks, all navigational techniques involve locating the navigators position compared to known locations or patterns. Navigation, in a sense, can refer to any skill or study that involves the determination of position and direction. In this sense, navigation includes orienteering and pedestrian navigation, for information about different navigation strategies that people use, visit human navigation. In the European medieval period, navigation was considered part of the set of seven mechanical arts, early Pacific Polynesians used the motion of stars, weather, the position of certain wildlife species, or the size of waves to find the path from one island to another. Maritime navigation using scientific instruments such as the mariners astrolabe first occurred in the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages, the perfecting of this navigation instrument is attributed to Portuguese navigators during early Portuguese discoveries in the Age of Discovery. Open-seas navigation using the astrolabe and the compass started during the Age of Discovery in the 15th century, the Portuguese began systematically exploring the Atlantic coast of Africa from 1418, under the sponsorship of Prince Henry. In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias reached the Indian Ocean by this route, in 1492 the Spanish monarchs funded Christopher Columbuss expedition to sail west to reach the Indies by crossing the Atlantic, which resulted in the Discovery of America. In 1498, a Portuguese expedition commanded by Vasco da Gama reached India by sailing around Africa, soon, the Portuguese sailed further eastward, to the Spice Islands in 1512, landing in China one year later. The fleet of seven ships sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Southern Spain in 1519, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, some ships were lost, but the remaining fleet continued across the Pacific making a number of discoveries including Guam and the Philippines. By then, only two galleons were left from the original seven, the Victoria led by Elcano sailed across the Indian Ocean and north along the coast of Africa, to finally arrive in Spain in 1522, three years after its departure. The Trinidad sailed east from the Philippines, trying to find a path back to the Americas. He arrived in Acapulco on October 8,1565, the term stems from 1530s, from Latin navigationem, from navigatus, pp. of navigare to sail, sail over, go by sea, steer a ship, from navis ship and the root of agere to drive. Roughly, the latitude of a place on Earth is its angular distance north or south of the equator, latitude is usually expressed in degrees ranging from 0° at the Equator to 90° at the North and South poles. The height of Polaris in degrees above the horizon is the latitude of the observer, similar to latitude, the longitude of a place on Earth is the angular distance east or west of the prime meridian or Greenwich meridian. Longitude is usually expressed in degrees ranging from 0° at the Greenwich meridian to 180° east and west, sydney, for example, has a longitude of about 151° east. New York City has a longitude of 74° west, for most of history, mariners struggled to determine longitude
7.
Margate
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Margate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in Kent, England. It lies 38.1 miles east-north-east of Maidstone, on the coast along the North Foreland and contains the areas of Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, Margate was recorded as Meregate in 1264 and as Margate in 1299, but the spelling continued to vary into modern times. The name is thought to refer to a gate or gap in a cliff where pools of water are found. The cliffs of the Isle of Thanet are composed of chalk, the towns history is tied closely to the sea and it has a proud maritime tradition. Margate was a limb of Dover in the ancient confederation of the Cinque ports and it was added to the confederation in the 15th century. Margate has been a seaside resort for at least 250 years. Like its neighbour Ramsgate, it has been a holiday destination for Londoners drawn to its sandy beaches. Margate had a Victorian pier which was destroyed by a storm in 1978. Like Brighton and Southend, Margate was infamous for violence between mods and rockers in the 1960s, and mods and skinheads in the 1980s. The Turner Contemporary art gallery occupies a prominent position next to the harbour, the Thanet Offshore Wind Project, completed in 2010, is visible from the seafront. Since 1983, the Member of Parliament for North Thanet, covering northern Thanet and Herne Bay, has been the Conservative, at the 2010 General Election, in North Thanet the Conservatives won a majority of 13,528 and 52. 7% of the vote. Labour won 21. 5% of the vote, Liberal Democrats 19. 4%, Margate was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1857. This was abolished in 1974, since which date Margate has been part of the Thanet district of Kent, the town contains the seven electoral wards of Margate Central, Cliftonville West, Cliftonville East, Westbrook, Garlinge, Dane Valley and Salmestone. These wards have seventeen of the fifty six seats on the Thanet District Council, at the 2007 Local Elections, nine of those seats were held by the Conservatives, seven by Labour and one by an Independent. Margate experiences a climate similar to much of the United Kingdom. Like almost all of southern Britain, Margate experiences mild temperatures, which is complimented by a large amount of sunshine, higher than London. Rainfall is quite low, Margate being one of the drier Kentish towns, at the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386. The urban area had a population of 46,980 at the 2001 census, the ethnicity of the town was 97. 1% white,1. 0% mixed race,0. 5% black,0. 8% Asian,0. 6% Chinese or other ethnicity
8.
River Medway
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The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald, Sussex, and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, about 13 miles of the river lies in Sussex, with the remainder being in Kent. It has a catchment area of 930 square miles, the second largest in southern England after the Thames, the map opposite shows only the major tributaries, a more detailed map shows the extensive network of smaller streams feeding into the main river. Those tributaries rise from points along the North Downs, the Weald, the major tributaries are, River Eden River Bourne, known as the River Shode and River Busty River Teise, major sub tributary River Bewl. The river and its tributaries flow through largely rural areas, Tonbridge, Maidstone, until 1746 the river was not navigable above Maidstone. Up to that point each village on the river had its wharf or wharves, at Halling, Snodland, New Hythe, cargoes included corn, fodder, fruit, stone and timber. In 1746 improvements to the channel meant that barges of 40 long tons could reach East Farleigh, Yalding, in 1828, the channel was further improved up to Leigh. There are eleven locks on the river, the lowest, opened in 1792, is at Allington, and is the tidal limit. The others are at East Farleigh, Teston, Hampstead Lane, Stoneham Old Lock, Sluice Weir Lock, Oak Weir Lock, East Lock, Porters, Eldridges and Town Lock in Tonbridge. The locks will take craft up to 80 feet by 18 feet, the shallowest point is just below Sluice Weir Lock, which is prone to silting after heavy rain. Small craft such as canoes can travel as far as Penshurst. The stretch from Leigh to Allington is known as the Medway Navigation, the Environment Agency is the navigation authority. Until recently the lowest crossing of the Medway was at Rochester, in the 14th century the Wardens and Commonalty of Rochester Bridge were instituted by Sir John de Cobham to pay for the rebuilding and upkeep of the bridge. Until 1963 the nearest crossing to Rochester Bridge was the 14th-century bridge at Aylesford,12 miles upstream, since then the following additional crossings have come into use,1963, A viaduct over the river was built south of Rochester to carry the first section of the M2 motorway. In 2003 this was widened to two separate spans, between 1963 and 1996 the M20 was built, with a bridge over the Medway south of Aylesford. 1996, The Medway Tunnel became the rivers lowest crossing, connecting Gillingham to Strood, the four-lane tunnel was constructed using the immersed tube method, and was partially paid for by Rochester Bridge Trust, the successor to the Wardens and Commonalty. 2003, A railway bridge 0.8 miles long, with a span of 498 feet, was constructed for High Speed 1. The railway bridge lies parallel to the M2 motorway bridges,2017, A new road bridge from the A228 between Holborough and Halling across to Hall Road, Wouldham, to facilitate the development of Peters Village
9.
The Swale
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The Swale is a strip of sea separating North Kent from the Isle of Sheppey. The Swale was originally part of a valley facing eastwards. As sea-levels rose, water occupied the whole length of the valley, the Swale forms both a National Nature Reserve and a Special Protection Area. The name Swale is Old English in origin, and is believed to mean swirling, rushing river, the Swale was originally part of a river. The channel now occupied by the Swale comprised a river valley facing eastwards, as sea-levels rose, water occupied the whole length of the valley, dividing todays Isle of Sheppey from the mainland. When the Romans arrived in Britain, the Swale extended much wider than it does today, two ferry services also crossed the Swale, one between Oare and Harty, and the other between Murston and Elmley. The Isle of Harty is no separate but the marshlands now gradually filling the channel delineate it. The channel needs constant dredging to allow use of the busy waterway, the Swale is crossed at its western end by two bridges, the Kingsferry Bridge and the later Sheppey Crossing. Since 1968, it has also been a Site of Special Scientific Interest
10.
City of London
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The City of London is a city and county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, the City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. Administratively, it one of the 33 local authority districts of Greater London, however, the City of London is not a London borough. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City and is colloquially known as the Square Mile. Both of these terms are often used as metonyms for the United Kingdoms trading and financial services industries. The name London is now used for a far wider area than just the City. London most often denotes the sprawling London metropolis, or the 32 London boroughs and this wider usage of London is documented as far back as 1888, when the County of London was created. The local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council and it is also unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the current Lord Mayor, as of November 2016, is Andrew Parmley. The City is a business and financial centre. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the primary business centre. London came top in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, published in 2008, the insurance industry is focused around the eastern side of the City, around Lloyds building. A secondary financial district exists outside of the City, at Canary Wharf,2.5 miles to the east, the City has a resident population of about 7,000 but over 300,000 people commute to and work there, mainly in the financial services sector. It used to be held that Londinium was first established by merchants as a trading port on the tidal Thames in around 47 AD. However, this date is only supposition, many historians now believe London was founded some time before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. They base this notion on evidence provided by both archaeology and Welsh literary legend, archaeologists have claimed that as much as half of the best British Iron Age art and metalwork discovered in Britain has been found in the London area. One of the most prominent examples is the famously horned Waterloo Helmet dredged from the Thames in the early 1860s and now exhibited at the British Museum. Also, according to an ancient Welsh legend, a king named Lud son of Heli substantially enlarged and improved a pre-existing settlement at London which afterwards came to be renamed after him, the same tradition relates how this Lud son of Heli was later buried at Ludgate
11.
Thames Conservancy
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The Thames Conservancy was a historical body responsible for the management of the River Thames in England. Responsibilities were reduced when the Tideway was transferred to the Port of London Authority in 1909 and in 1974 the Conservancy was taken into the Thames Water Authority. The stretch of river between the town of Staines, just to the west of London, and Yantlet Creek had been claimed by the City of London since 1197 under a charter of Richard the Lionheart. In 1771 the Thames Navigation Commission was established from a body created twenty years earlier to handle navigation on the river, although the Commissioners were active in establishing locks and weirs above Staines, they did not interfere with the jurisdiction of the City of London. The City of London built a series of locks from Teddington to Penton Hook at the beginning of the nineteenth century and they also used material from the demolished Old London Bridge to support the embankments between Sunbury and Shepperton. However trouble arose around 1840 when the government proposed building the Victoria Embankment, the dispute simmered on for 17 years. Meanwhile, as a result of competition from the railways, the volume of traffic on the river had been drastically reduced. Income from tolls fell from £16,000 in 1839 to less than £8,000 in 1849, the City authoritys unwillingness to pay for necessary expenditure led to complaints. By Act of Parliament in 1857 the Crown reclaimed its rights, the City of London handed its inventory to the Thames Conservancy in October 1857. In June 1857 the first stone of a new lock at Teddington had been laid at the present position, the Conservancy opened it in 1858 together with the narrow skiff lock. and the Conservancy soon imposed regulations. In 1858 a toll of 15 shillings was imposed on every steam vessel passing Teddington Lock, and this was amended to 5 mph with the stream and 4 mph against it. Netting from Richmond to Staines was prohibited for ever, at this time the management of the bulk of the upstream river was the responsibility of the Thames Navigation Commissioners, but this changed in 1866. It was believed that under single management with the river maintained properly. Under an Act of 6 August 1866, the Thames Conservancy took over management of the river from Cricklade to Yantlet Creek, under the act, all locks canals and other works of the commissioners were transferred to the Conservancy. In addition provision was made for all weirs to be transferred to the Conservancy from private owners, former owners of weirs were freed from liability but two weirs at Buscot and Eaton remained to the owner of Buscot Park. Most weirs belonged to the twenty eight water-mills still operating between Oxford and Staines and the entitlement to water of the mills, many of which dated back to Domesday Book, was recognised. No new flow of sewage into the river or its tributaries was allowed, new revenue was raised by a £1000 per annum charge on each of the five water companies. The Southwark and Vauxhall, Grand Junction and West Middlesex water companies had set up their works at Hampton in the 1850s after it became illegal to take water from the Tideway, the Lambeth and Chelsea water companies had moved initially to Seething Wells but later relocated to East Molesey
12.
London Stone (riparian)
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London Stone is the name given to a number of boundary stones which stand beside the rivers Thames and Medway, which formerly marked the limits of jurisdiction of the City of London. Until 1350, the English Crown held the right to fish the rivers of England, in 1197 King Richard I, in need of money to finance his involvement in the Third Crusade, sold the rights over the lower reaches of the River Thames to the City of London. Marker stones were erected to indicate the limit of the Citys rights, in Victorian times, the Lord Mayor would come in procession by water and touch the Staines stone with a sword to re-affirm the Citys rights. This London Stone marked the limit of the Citys rights. The official role of a London Corporation stone of 1285 beside Staines Bridge was set out with a grant of associated privileges in a charter of Edward I. Its use by the river is confirmed by the semi-circular indentations, Staines is on the point where the north bank moves from east to north and has always been its site but the exact position has changed. 0. 6m-tall half cube on a stone pillar was moved about 500 metres upstream to a site at grid reference TQ028718 by the river in the Lammas Pleasure Ground. In 1986 the stone was moved to the Old Town Hall Arts Centre, Market Square, in 2004 the original was moved to Spelthorne Museum, Spelthorne Library, Friends Walk/Thames Street. The stone has been recarved in its lower section making its long base narrower than its top and its sole inscription is a very eroded etching STANE in its top section of uncertain date, the Old English word for Stone. If the inscription is old enough this reinforces the traditional spelling, if not the pronunciation of the name of the town, the lower carved area has a shield in relief as is its motif section below with eroded inscriptions. It stands on a wider plinth inscribed with the names of various City worthies who may have been involved in its 1750 move. The replica, due to its location, is in the lowest category of architecture, a Grade II listed structure partly achieved since it happens to stand on the point of one of the former coal-tax posts. Martin Nail included the Stone as No.83 in his list The downstream limit of the Citys rights is about 33.5 miles as the flies from London Bridge and is marked on both banks of the Thames. On the south bank the marker is the London Stone which stands at grid reference TQ860786 beside the mouth of Yantlet Creek on the Isle of Grain, the overall height of the monument is about 8 metres. The main column has an inscription, now illegible, the plinth on which it stands has an inscription listing various worthy gentlemen who were probably involved in the re-erection of the stone in Victorian times. They include Horatio Thomas Austin and Warren Stormes Hale, sometime Lord Mayor, the marker on the north bank is almost due north of Yantlet Creek and is called the Crow Stone. It stands at grid reference TQ857852 on the mud opposite the end of Chalkwell Avenue and it was erected in 1837 and replaced a smaller stone, dating from 1755. The older stone was removed to Priory Park in Southend where it remains today and it is likely that there has been a marker on this site and at Yantlet since 1285
