What lies beneath
Network of green walks proposed along routes of capital’s lost rivers
The Guardian 5/3/21 Caroline Davies
London has been sculpted by its rivers over centuries. Today, though, while vestiges of some remain visible, most lie buried beneath pavements and submerged in the city’s sewage system. Now the Ramblers walking charity is calling for the capital’s “forgotten rivers” to be at the centre of a network of new green walking routes tracing the paths of hidden waterways.
It wants London’s mayor to back plans for proper signage and route maps to guide walkers around these historic locations beneath the urban landscape.
“We have the London Loop, the Capital Ring and the Thames Path. But we don’t have many radial routes that come back in or back out of London. The hidden rivers are really good radial walks,” said Des Garrahan, of Inner London Ramblers, who leads guided walks along the city’s buried river routes.
The ridge of Hampstead Heath, north London, for example, contained the headwaters of four rivers: the Brent, the Westbourne, the Tyburn and the Fleet.
Paul Talling covers 22 waterways in his book and on his website: London’s Lost Rivers. “But there are lots of little tributaries that feed them,” said Talling, who also guides lost river walks.
As London’s population expanded, they became open sewers, heavily polluted and foulsmelling. By the 1820s, most had been covered. By the 1860s, and after the “great stink” of 1858, most were incorporated into Joseph Bazalgette’s sewer system.
“Before that, London really was a river city,” said Talling. “They were used for market gardening. There were mills. There was a mill at Clerkenwell, where the well was used by clerks of the nunnery … There’s Sadler’s Wells.”
The Fleet is the most well known. The Tyburn branched to form islands, on one of which, Thorney Island, Westminster Abbey stands. The Effra can still be seen at a storm outfall outside the MI6 building near Vauxhall.
“People should be aware of what’s beneath their feet,” said Talling. “Look down, listen to the drains, look at the street names.”
A 2019 Museum of London exhibition explored the history of many of the rivers. “Their traces can be seen throughout modern London in place names, the shape of streets and boundaries, and in the placement of buildings and landmarks,” the co-curators Kate Sumnall and Thomas Ardill said.
Among routes proposed by the Ramblers, the Forgotten Rivers walk follows the Fleet to the Thames past St Pancras Old Church, and alongside Regent’s Canal, while the Silk Stream trail links Hampstead Heath to the London Loop at High Barnet.
Phil Marson, the vice-chair of Inner London Ramblers, said: “Making great walking routes easier to find and use, and making them part of Londoners’ everyday lives, is an essential part of building a sustainable post-pandemic recovery.”
Hidden waterways under the city
The Guardian
The Fleet
Polluted by carcasses from Smithfield’s butchers, this foulsmelling waterway was once a blight on London. Flowing from Hampstead to Blackfriars, following the 1858 Great Stink, sections were incorporated into Joseph Bazalgette’s sewage system.
The Tyburn
Also originating in Hampstead, the stretch through Regent’s Park to Pimlico, was originally a prime salmon fishing stream.
The Walbrook
Long-since covered over, Roman Londinium grew up along its banks. It ran under the Roman London Wall,
The Westbourne
George’s II’s wife, Queen Caroline
ordered it be dammed to form the Serpentine and prettify Hyde Park in 1730. Remains still flow through a pipe above Sloane Square station.
The Effra
Earth excavated from its enclosing used to build the raised banks at the Oval cricket ground. It is still buried, as a storm drain from Norwood to Vauxhall.
