Pond Lane Flood Gates is a redundant flood defence structure, located near

Lea Bridge Road Lea Bridge Road is a major through route in east London, across the Lea Valley from Clapton to Whipps Cross in Leyton. It forms part of the A104 road. Places served on the road are the Lea Valley Park, Lea Bridge railway station and the B ...

on the

River Lee Navigation The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and its ...

in the London Borough of Hackney, England.

History

The flood gates were the third water control structure to be built in the vicinity. When the

Hackney Cut The Hackney Cut is an artificial channel of the Lee Navigation built in England in 1769 by the River Lea Trustees to straighten and improve the Navigation. It begins at the Middlesex Filter Beds Weir, below Lea Bridge, and is situated in the ( ...

was first opened in 1769, the River Lea flowed over a weir, now known as the

Middlesex Filter Beds Weir The Middlesex Filter Beds Weir, or Lea Bridge Road Weir, marks the start of the Hackney Cut, an artificial channel of the River Lee Navigation built in 1770, in the London Borough of Hackney. The weir lies between the former Middlesex Filte ...

, to follow its original course, and the new cut was protected by Lea Bridge half lock, a single set of gates just below the start of the cut. These could be closed to prevent high levels on the river affecting the cut. Lea Bridge Lock was demolished in 1853, and was replaced by Pond Lane Lock at Cow Bridge in 1865, but it was only operational for seven years, as the navigation was rebuilt for larger barges, and was made level between

Old Ford Old Ford is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets that is named after the natural ford which provided a crossing of the River Lea. History Administration and boundaries Historically, Old Ford was a cluster of houses and a mill, aroun ...

and

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

. Although the lock was no longer needed, it was retained so that it could be used to protect the cut from flooding as Lea Bridge half lock had once done. There were plans to fit it with gates pointing in both directions, to prevent draining of the cut below the gates if too much water was drawn from the river by the waterworks at Lea Bridge, but this was not carried out. The structure lasted until 1931, when it was demolished, to be replaced by the Pond Lane Flood Gates, a little further upstream. These consisted of vertical guillotine gates, which could be used to isolate the cut in times of flood, and were designed to help prevent flooding of

Hackney Marsh Hackney Marshes is an area of open space in London's Lower Lea Valley, lying on the western bank of the River Lea. It takes its name from its position on the eastern boundary of Hackney, the principal part of the London Borough of Hackney, and ...

. The construction of the

Thames Barrier The Thames Barrier is a retractable barrier system built to protect the floodplain of most of Greater London from exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the North Sea. It has been operational since 1982. When needed, it is c ...

caused the flood gates to become redundant and they were finally removed in 1987. The footbridge over the lock still remains.

Location

The remains of the flood gates are located south of the

at Lea Bridge and adjacent to the former Middlesex Filter Beds which are now a nature reserve. The filter beds were built in 1852, to provide cleaner water to London, as a response to an outbreak of cholera three years before. They became redundant when the

Coppermills Water Treatment Works The Coppermills Water Treatment Works is a large water treatment works in the Lea Valley in east London. Completed in 1969 by the Metropolitan Water Board, it is now owned and operated by Thames Water. In 2009, Coppermills was connected to the Th ...

was built at Walthamstow in 1969, and by the time

Thames Water Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is a large private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in most of Greater London, Luton, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, north Wiltsh ...

took over responsibility for them in 1974, they were already providing habitat for a range of plants and wildlife. They subsequently became part of the

Lee Valley Regional Park Lee Valley Regional Park is a long linear park, much of it green spaces, running through the northeast of Greater London, Essex and Hertfordshire from the River Thames to Ware, through areas such as Stratford, Clapton, Tottenham, Enfield, ...

in 1988, and the filter beds now provide areas of wet woodland, reed beds and open water. Over 60 varieties of birds have been seen at the reserve, which is close to the Waterworks Nature Reserve, a similar site occupying some of the Essex filter beds, which were built later than the Middlesex filter beds.

Public access

Walking and cycling access to the gates is possible by following the

Lea Valley Walk The Lea Valley Walk is a long-distance path located between Leagrave, the source of the River Lea near Luton, and the Thames, at Limehouse Basin, Limehouse, east London. From its source much of the walk is rural. At Hertford the path follows t ...

, which runs along the towpath of the Hackney Cut. The nearest railway station is

Clapton railway station Clapton is a railway station on the Chingford branch of the Lea Valley lines, located in Upper Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney, east London. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and . The station ...

, which is about to the west of the gates.

Bibliography

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References

{{Locks and Weirs on River Lea Locks of London Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hackney Locks of the Lee Navigation Flood control in the United Kingdom