The Cornmill Stream is a minor tributary of the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Cr ...

in the English county of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

History

The stream is an artificial watercourse which may have been built by 1086 to serve the mills mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the London metropolitan area, metropolitan and urban area of London, England, East London, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich ...

Course

After leaving the River Lee Flood Relief Channel (Horsemill Stream) at

Fishers Green Fishers Green is a settlement in the parish of Waltham Abbey in Essex, England, lying to the north of the main built-up area. It lies on the flood plain of the River Lea. Description In the years following World War II much of the flood plain ...

the stream flows south to form the western boundary with the former

Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills The Royal Gunpowder Mills are a former industrial site in Waltham Abbey, England. It was one of three Royal Gunpowder Mills (disambiguation), Royal Gunpowder Mills in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom (the others ...

before flowing through the Waltham Abbey SSSI within the Gunpowder Mills property. Above

the stream diverges from the Old River LeaHertfordshire County council
Retrieved 12 September 2008 with both channels bordering the Cornmill Stream and Old River Lea,

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. The stream passes under the 14th-century Harold's Bridge and the B194 road (Abbey View) before flowing through a sluice in the abbey's grounds. The stream flows underground to emerge adjacent to Waltham Abbey town hall. After flowing through an urban area, it rejoins the River Lee Flood Relief Channel beyond the town of Waltham Abbey.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Essex Tributaries of the River Lea 1Cornmill Waltham Abbey