The subterranean or underground rivers of London are or were the direct or indirect

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drain ...

of the upper estuary of the Thames (the Tideway), that were built over during the growth of the metropolis of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. They now flow through

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdo ...

s, with some of them now integral parts of London's sewerage system and diverted accordingly.

Subterranean rivers in London

North of the River Thames

* Black Ditch * Hackney Brook * The

River Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. ...

(all three subtributaries via the Lea) * Muswell Stream''London's Lost Rivers''
(2011) Paul Talling, Random House, pp148-150 (sub-sub-tributary via

Pymmes Brook Pymmes Brook is located in North London and named after William Pymme, a local land owner. It is a minor tributary of the River Lea. The brook mostly flows through urban areas and is particularly prone to flooding in its lower reaches. To al ...

) * The

Walbrook Walbrook is a City ward and a minor street in its vicinity. The ward is named after a river of the same name. The ward of Walbrook contains two of the City's most notable landmarks: the Bank of England and the Mansion House. The street runs ...

* The

River Fleet The River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers, all of which today contain foul water for treatment. Its headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath, each of which was dammed into a series of ponds—the Hampstead Ponds an ...

, crossing

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

* The

River Tyburn The River Tyburn was a stream (bourn) in London, its main successor sewers emulate its main courses but it resembled the Colne in its county of Middlesex in that it had many distributaries (inland mouths). It ran from South Hampstead, through M ...

* The

River Westbourne The Westbourne or Kilburn is a culverted small River Thames tributary in London, rising in Hampstead and Brondesbury Park and which as a drain unites and flows southward through Kilburn and Bayswater (west end of Paddington) to skirt undern ...

** The

Tyburn Brook Tyburn Brook was a small tributary stream to the West Bourne or Westbourne and ran mainly in Hyde Park for a few hundred metres south by south-west. It has lost its catchment to natural drainage into the gravelly topsoil and to surface water, ...

* Counter's Creek *

Stamford Brook Stamford Brook was a tributary of the Tideway stretch of the River Thames in west London supplied by three headwaters. Historically used as an irrigation ditch or dyke the network of small watercourses had four lower courses and mouths. Histo ...

**Parrs Ditch *

River Brent The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. in length, it rises in the Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tideway stretch of the Thame ...

(partially underground) *

River Rom The River Rom, also known as the River Beam below its confluence with the Ravensbourne, is a tributary of the River Thames in England that flows through east London suburbs surrounding the metropolitan centre of Romford, part of it forming a ...

(partially underground) Culverted_mouth_of_the_Earl's_Sluice_at_Deptford_Wharf

Langbourne

The

Langbourne The Lorteburn or Langbourne is a lost stream or river, which ran in the east of the City of London, arising near to Aldgate, flowing south near to the Tower of London, and discharging into the River Thames. The stream appears to have been covere ...

or Lorteburn may have run in the east of the City of London. This would be a small stream or stream, arising in the vicinity of

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

and either joining the

or flowing directly into the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. It is seldom included on maps or lists of lost rivers, but there is a shallow linear valley in that part of the city, first identified by Richard Kelsey's topographical survey in 1841. David Bentley interprets this as a stream called the Lorteburn recorded east of Seething Lane in the late 13th century. A 1603 article on London's Lost Rivers by Stow also mentions the Langbourne, here giving the route as running along Fenchurch Street, Lombard Street, and Sherbourn Lane. Stow states that the river gave its name to the

Langbourn Langbourn is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London. It reputedly is named after a buried stream in the vicinity. It is a small ward; a long thin area, running in a west–east direction. Historically, Lombard Street and Fenchurc ...

ward of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

South of the River Thames

Earl's Sluice Earl's Sluice is an underground river in south-east London, England. Its source is Ruskin Park on Denmark Hill. In South Bermondsey it is joined by the River Peck before emptying into the Thames at Deptford Wharf. Earl's Creek marks the bou ...

** The River Peck * The River Neckinger * The

River Effra The River Effra is a former set of streams in south London, England, culverted and used mainly for storm sewerage. It had been a tributary of the Thames. Its catchment waters, where not drained to aquifer soakaways and surface water drains, h ...

Heathwall Ditch The River Heathwall, more often known as the Heathwall Sewer, Heathwall Ditch or Heathwall Mill Pond was a set of field drainage ditches and a large mill pond in Battersea, London. It had two outlets into the tidal Thames and its inland secti ...

* The Falconbrook * The

Graveney Graveney is a relatively small but widely dispersed village located between Faversham and Whitstable in Kent, England. The main part of the village is located along the intersection of Seasalter Road, Sandbanks Road and Head Hill Road (at the rai ...

(sub tributary due to the Wandle) ** Norbury Brook * The River Quaggy (partially underground) (sub tributary due to the Ravensbourne) * The Beverley Brook (partially underground) * Sudbrook (partially underground) :''sub-tributaries are shown indented''

Development

In June 2008, the office of Mayor of London published outline plans to reinstate some underground rivers. In January 2009, a partnership among the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and en ...

, Natural England, The River Restoration Centre, and the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and t ...

set out a strategy for putting this into effect by creating the London Rivers Action Plan.

References

External links

* * * * * {{cite web, url=http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/285-londons-lost-rivers , title=Strange Maps, website= London's Lost Rivers Subterranean London

Subterranean rivers in London

North of the River Thames

Langbourne

South of the River Thames

Development

See also

References

Further reading

External links