History of the River Thames

The River Thames has played a pivotal role in the history of Britain since the days of the Romans.

It is one of Britain's best-known waterways and a journey along it is akin to floating through the pages of a history book. Thirsty walkers tackling the accompanying long-distance Thames Path will find their route liberally interspersed with an eclectic mix of hostelries, many of which are equally historic.

A major transport artery, the Thames has at various times also been a line of defence as witnessed by its castles and forts. Mills were dotted up and down the river to provide power and fish were plentiful - so it is not surprising that the river has historically been subject to numerous disputes between vested interests. Rights of navigation were expressed in Magna Carta, but the silt has occasionally yielded vessels from a far earlier age and prehistoric craft have been discovered in the upper sections.

In Elizabethan times, many decades before the more familiar pound lock made its debut, water levels were controlled by a series of flash-locks, or navigation weirs, some of which were still being used until the 1920s. The water was allowed to build up behind these weirs until boats could pass through, hauled by men on the way upstream, or heading downstream with the torrent of water as the gate was opened.

The Thames rises in Gloucestershire, only a short distance from Sapperton Tunnel on the Thames & Severn Canal. Although the river is navigable upstream as far as Cricklade, the practical limit for most vessels is its junction with the canal at Inglesham. From here it travels around 190 miles to its estuary off Shoeburyness in Essex.

From Lechlade to Oxford the infant Thames does not appear of any great significance, but below, where it meets with the Oxford Canal, it begins to assume increasing importance. Names such as Dorchester, Goring, Pangbourne, Reading and Henley are instantly recognisable by visitors from all over the world - especially Henley, which is renowned for its annual regatta.

For centuries, the Thames has attracted celebrations and festivities - some of which, such as the annual University Boat Race, have become a focus of international attention. Others have faded into history, like the frost fairs of the 17th and 18th centuries, during which market events and shows were held on a frozen Thames.

Perhaps the most arcane custom still survives, though its methods have changed to avoid undue cruelty. 'Swan Upping' is an ancient ritual in which a swan is marked for identification by the nicking of its mandible. A corruption of the terminology is said to have led to the contemporary pub sign 'The Swan with Two Necks'.

Boulter's Lock is one of the most famous locks on the Thames, and it takes no particularly vivid imagination to picture the same scene as it might have appeared to Jerome K. Jerome when he wrote his classic Three Men in a Boat. At Windsor, the river is dominated by Windsor Castle. Shortly after old Windsor Lock is Runnymede, and the site where King John bowed to his barons by signing Magna Carta.

Teddington Locks denote the point at which the Thames becomes tidal, though Richmond Lock, a few miles downstream, acts as a barrage in which a minimum river depth can be retained irrespective of tides. From here onwards the river becomes noticeably wider and on a grander scale as it cuts through the heart of the Capital skirting past the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London, Traitor's Gate and an entire guide-book of household-name attractions.

The famous Tower Bridge was once the last bridge on the Thames and still governs ship height. A tidal entrance lock affords access into Limehouse Basin, with connections from here to the Regent's Canal and Lee Navigation. For most inland navigators, the entrance to Limehouse will mark journey's end. Downstream the river becomes more of a sea channel than an inland waterway as it passes the rejuvenated Docklands, the Isle of Dogs, Bow Creek and the futuristic Thames Barrier. Although commercial carrying has declined dramatically, the Thames tideway is still an exceptionally busy river, and anyone venturing past Limehouse should ensure both vessel and crew are equipped for and capable of undertaking what amounts to a short sea-voyage.

The Thames in literature

The Thames also has a rich literary history, featuring in plays, novels, poems and essays by some of the greatest writers in the English language. Many tales have been told over the years about the Thames, none more famous than Jerome K. Jerome in Three Men in a Boat, published in 1889.

"Most of my life I have dwelt in the neighbourhood of the river. I thank Old Father Thames for many happy days. We spent our honeymoon, my wife and I, in a little boat. I knew the river well, its deep pools, and hidden ways, its quiet backwaters, its sleepy towns and villages".

Jerome writes lyrically about some parts of the Thames - Sonning is described as "the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river. It is more like a stage village than one built of bricks and mortar." The stars of the book are without doubt the river itself and its surrounding towns and villages - some of the watering holes are still enjoyed by many travellers such as The Bull in Sonning and the George and Dragon at Wargrave.

Perhaps the best-loved children's book based on the river is The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame. The author lived for much of his life near the river and knew the waterways and footpaths intimately. The adventures of the riverside creatures, Mole, Badger and Water Rat, started as tales told to his son 'Mouse' as they walked along the river. Sadly Mouse was killed at the age of 20 in a tram accident, and his parents sold up and moved to Italy - but the pull of the Thames was too strong, and they eventually returned to Pangbourne. The river had given him his inspiration and he always saw himself most at home in some "sequestered reach of the quiet Thames".

Percy Bysshe Shelley lived for a short time at both Windsor and Bracknell. Inspired by its natural beauty he embarked on a river trip on the Thames in August 1815, which improved both his health and provided the inspiration for his short poem Alastor, which still holds true today:

"Now on the polished stones it danced; Like childhood laughing as it went;Then through the plain in tranquil wandering crept Reflecting every herb and drooping bud That overhung its quietness"

H G Wells was born in 1866 and spent his youth living in Berkshire with his Uncle Tom, who kept the Surly Inn on the Thames near Windsor. He recalls in his autobiography taking Ellen Terry and Henry Irving in a punt on the river, an event recalled in The History of Mr Polly.

Robert Gibbings, the author of Sweet Thames Run Softly, set out on foot from the source of the Thames in Lechlade, then boarded a flat-bottomed boat he had built specially to travel downstream. Gibbings who lived from 1889 to 1958 produced beautiful etchings of wildlife and plants to accompany his writing.

It was in Albion House in Marlow, that Mary Shelley conceived her famous gothic novel Frankenstein. Godstow was Charles Dodgson's destination as he rowed and, for the first time, told the story of Alice in Wonderland to the three Liddell sisters in the summer of 1862. And at Bablock Hythe, poet Matthew Arnold wrote The Scholar Gypsy. A vehicle ferry used to operate here until 1986: now, in the summer months, the landlord of the Ferryman Inn keeps the tradition alive with a small passenger boat.