Editing Bow Back Rivers (section)

{{Short description|Waterways in east London}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox canal
  |name        = Bow Back Rivers
  |image       = Three Mills Lock.jpg
  |image_caption     = The sluices at Three Mills Lock, with the lock structure to the right
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  |branch      = 
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  |connects_to        = [[Lee Navigation]], [[River Lea]], [[Bow Creek (England)|Bow Creek]]
  |locks       = 4
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  |status      = Open
  |navigation_authority         = [[Canal and River Trust]]
}}
'''Bow Back Rivers''' or '''Stratford Back Rivers''' is a complex of waterways between [[Bow, London|Bow]] and [[Stratford, London|Stratford]] in east London, England, which connect the [[River Lea]] to the [[River Thames]]. Starting in the twelfth century, works were carried out to drain Stratford Marshes and several of the waterways were constructed to power [[watermill]]s. [[Bow Creek (England)|Bow Creek]] provided the final outfall to the Thames, and the other channels were called [[Abbey Creek]], [[Channelsea River]], [[City Mill River]], [[Prescott Channel]], Pudding Mill River, Saint Thomas Creek, Three Mills Back River, Three Mills Wall River and [[Waterworks River]].

The rivers have been subject to change over centuries, with [[Alfred the Great]] diverting the river in 896 to create a second channel, and [[Matilda of Scotland|Queen Matilda]] bridging both channels around 1110 by paying for the construction of [[Bow, London|Bow]] Bridge.

Because the river system was tidal as far as [[Hackney Wick]], several of the mills were [[tide mill]]s, including those at [[Abbey Mills Pumping Stations|Abbey Mills]] and those at [[Three Mills]], one of which survives. Construction of the [[New River (London)|New River]] in the seventeenth century to supply drinking water to London, with subsequent extraction by waterworks companies, led to a lowering of water levels, and the river was gradually canalised to maintain navigation. Significant changes occurred with the creation of the [[Lee Navigation]] in 1767, which resulted in the construction of the [[Hackney Cut]] and the [[Limehouse Cut]], allowing barges to bypass most of the back rivers. A major reconstruction of the rivers took place in the 1930s, authorised by the [[River Lee (Flood Relief) Act 1930]] ([[20 & 21 Geo. 5]]. c. cxcii), but by the 1960s, commercial usage of the waterways had largely ceased. Deteriorating infrastructure led to the rivers dwindling to little more than tidal creeks, and they were categorised in 1968 as having no economic or long-term future.

However, [[British Waterways]] decided that their full restoration was an important aim in 2002, and the construction of the main stadium for the [[2012 Summer Olympics]] on an island formed by the rivers provided funding to construct a new lock and sluices which stabilised water levels throughout the Olympic site. It was hoped that significant amounts of materials for the construction of the Olympic facilities would be delivered by barge, but this did not happen. Improvements to the channels which form a central feature of the Olympic Park included the largest aquatic planting scheme ever carried out in Britain.