Locks On The River Thames
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Locks On The River Thames
The England, English River Thames is navigable from Cricklade (for very small, shallow boats) or Lechlade (for larger boats) to the sea, and this part of the river falls 71 meters (234 feet). There are 45 lock (water navigation), locks on the river, each with one or more adjacent weirs. These lock and weir combinations are used for controlling the flow of water down the river, most notably when there is a risk of flooding, and provide for navigation above the tideway. History From ancient times there were many obstructions across the Thames, for fish-pounds and millers' weirs. They are referred to by Asserius Menevensis in the ninth century and Magna Carta (1215) states that "weirs, for the time to come, shall be demolished in the Thames and Medway, except on the sea coast." It appears this never happened. In the Middle Ages, the fall on the river in its middle and upper sections was used to drive watermills for the production of flour and paper and various other purposes ...
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Mapledurham Lock
Mapledurham Lock is a lock (water transport), lock and weir situated on the River Thames in England, about 4 miles upstream of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. The lock was first built in 1777 by the Thames Navigation Commissioners and the present lock dates from 1908. Despite its name, the lock is located in the Berkshire village and civil parishes in England, civil parish of Purley-On-Thames on the south bank of the river, rather than in the Oxfordshire village of Mapledurham on the other side of the river. The lock is accessible from Purley village down Mapledurham Drive, a metalled lane that turns to gravel. The weir stretches across the river, in both counties. The weir runs from the lock island in a long curve across the river between the two villages. However no access is possible across the weir, and without a boat, journeys between the two villages require a lengthy detour via Reading, Berkshire, Reading or Pangbourne. The weir still provides a head of water to drive Maple ...
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City Of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, historic centre of London, though it forms only a small part of the larger Greater London metropolis. The City of London had a population of 8,583 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, however over 500,000 people were employed in the area as of 2019. It has an area of , the source of the nickname ''the Square Mile''. The City is a unique local authority area governed by the City of London Corporation, which is led by the Lord Mayor of London, Lord Mayor of the City of London. Together with Canary Wharf and the West End of London, West End, the City of London forms the primary central business district of London, which is one of the leading financial centres of the world. The Bank of England and the London Stock Exchange are both ba ...
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National Rivers Authority
The National Rivers Authority (NRA) was one of the forerunners of the Environment Agency of England and Wales, existing between 1989 and 1996. Before 1989 the regulation of the aquatic environment had largely been carried out by the ten regional water authorities (RWAs). The RWAs were responsible for the supply and distribution of drinking water, sewerage and sewage disposal, land drainage and flood risk management, fisheries, water quality management, pollution prevention, water resource management and many aspects of the management of aquatic ecology and some aspects of recreation. With the passing of the Water Act 1989, the ten water authorities in England and Wales were privatised by flotation on the stock market. They took the water supply, sewerage and sewage disposal activities into the privatised companies. The remaining duties remained with the newly created National Rivers Authority. The assets and the staff of the RWAs were divided up at privatisation between the ...
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Thames Water Authority
The Thames Water Authority was a UK regional water authority created by the Water Act 1973 to consolidate water management in the river Thames catchment area. It was dissolved in 1989 due to the privatisation of the water industry. Predecessors The bodies subsumed by the Thames Water Authority included the Metropolitan Water Board, the Thames Conservancy, the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board and parts of the Essex and Kent River authorities. It also took over water and sewage responsibility from the following water suppliers in the Thames catchment: * Colne Valley Water Company * * Croydon Corporation * East Surrey Water Company * Epsom and Ewell Corporation * * * * * * * * Swindon Corporation * * Watford Corporation * * Dissolution In 1989 the Thames Water Authority was partly privatised, under the provisions of the Water Act 1989 with the water and sewage responsibilities transferring to the newly established publicly quoted company of Thames Water, an ...
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Port Of London Authority
The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its continuation (the Kent/Essex strait). It maintains and supervises navigation, and protects the river's environment. The PLA originally operated all Port of London#Enclosed dock systems, enclosed dock systems on the river (except the Regent's Canal Dock), but these have long been closed to commercial traffic, with the exception of Port of Tilbury, which was privatised in 1992. It inherited the private police forces of the companies which had previously run the docks, reorganising them into a single Port of London Authority Police. Finance The PLA receives no funding from the government and is entirely self-financing. Revenues are raised from conservancy charges on vessels and cargo, pilotage charges, annual port dues, hydrographic servic ...
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Thames Conservancy
The Thames Conservancy (formally the Conservators of the River Thames) was a body responsible for the management of River Thames, that river in England. It was founded in 1857 to replace the jurisdiction of the City of London up to Staines-upon-Thames, Staines. Nine years later it took on the whole river from Cricklade in Wiltshire to the sea at London Stone (riparian)#Yantlet Creek, Yantlet Creek on the Isle of Grain. Its territory was reduced when the Tideway (upper and lower estuary) was transferred to the Port of London Authority in 1909. In 1974 the conservancy was taken into the Thames Water Authority, later to devolve to the Environment Agency in almost all respects. History Background 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 I of England, Richard the Lionheart. The jurisdiction was marked by the London Stone (riparian), London Stones. In 1 ...
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City Of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the local authority of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United Kingdom's financial sector. In 2006, the name was changed from Corporation of London to distinguish the body governing the City of London from the Greater London Authority, the regional government of the larger Greater London administrative area. It is a corporation in the sense of being a municipal corporation rather than a company; it is deemed to be the citizens and other eligible parties acting as one corporate body to manage the City's affairs. The corporation is based at the Guildhall. Both businesses and residents of the City, or "Square Mile", are entitled to vote in corporation elections. In addition to its functions as the local authority (analogous to those undertaken by the 32 boroughs that administer the rest of Greater London) the Cit ...
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Thames And Severn Canal
The Thames and Severn Canal is a canal in Gloucestershire in the south-west of England, which was completed in 1789. It was conceived as part of a cargo route from Bristol and the Midlands to London, linking England's two largest rivers for better trade. The route climbs the steep Cotswold escarpment through the Golden Valley, tunnels underneath the summit of the Cotswold Edge, and emerges near the source of the Thames. At its eastern end, it connects to the top of the navigable Thames at Inglesham Lock near Lechlade, while at its western end, it connects to the Stroudwater Navigation at Wallbridge near Stroud, and thence to the River Severn. It had one short arm (branch), from Siddington to the town of Cirencester. It includes Sapperton Tunnel, which when built was the longest canal tunnel in Britain, and remains the second-longest complete tunnel. There were always problems with water supply, as no reservoirs were built, while the summit section near the tunnel ran throu ...
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Thames Navigation Commissioners
The Thames Navigation Commission managed the River Thames in southern England from 1751 to 1866. In particular, they were responsible for installing or renovating many of the locks on the river in the 18th and early 19th centuries History The first commission concerned with the River Thames was the Oxford-Burcot Commission, appointed in the Thames Commission of Sewers Act 1605. It took responsibility for the river between Oxford and Burcot. The Oxford-Burcot Commission was reasonably successful. Thus, the permanent Thames Navigation Commissioners were appointed through a further act under King George II in 1751, the ( 24 Geo. 2. c. 8). This commission had similar powers covering the whole of the river down to Staines as far as a point marked by the London Stone; below this point the rights and responsibilities for managing the Thames were vested in the City of London Corporation. Earlier commissions had been created by acts as early as 1695, although these had limited te ...
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Swift Ditch
The Swift Ditch is a long artificial channel that formed a short-cut for river traffic to and from Oxford, across a meander of the River Thames in England. It was formerly the primary navigation channel. With the main river, it creates Andersey Island on the left bank of the Thames opposite Abingdon-on-Thames. Within a poem published in 1632, the ''Water Poet'' John Taylor wrote: History When Ordric was elected Abbot at the Abbey in Abingdon in 1052, the River Thames was the main transport route for goods between London and Oxford. There were complaints from people in both these towns that, where it passed the Abbey, the River Thames was so blocked up that river traffic was seriously hampered. In response Ordric ordered a new navigation channel to be excavated, possibly enlarging a previous less navigable one. The channel left the main stream near Thrupp, and passed through the meadows of Andersey to the south of the Abbey Church, flowing back into the Thames at Culham. Th ...
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