Editing Bow Back Rivers (section)

==History==
[[File:City Mill River Pano.jpg|thumb|900px|centre|City Mill River, Bow Back Rivers (2004)]]
The Bow Back Rivers cross an area originally known as Stratford Marsh, an area of common [[Common land|Lammas land]], where inhabitants had common rights to graze horses and cattle between Lammas Day (1 August) and Lady Day (25 March), but which was used for growing hay for the rest of the year.<ref>{{harvnb |Powell |1973b |p=197}}</ref> The Marsh was between Stratford-Langthorne and Stratford-at-Bow. Little remains from pre-history, but the names suggest that the two settlements lay at either end of a stone causeway across the marsh. Remains of a stone causeway have been found, but no traces of an associated road.<ref name=maddocks1933>{{harvnb |Maddocks |1933}}</ref> The ford at [[Old Ford]] is of pre-Roman origin, part of a route from London to Essex which crossed [[Bethnal Green]]. In the [[Roman Britain|Roman era]], a new road was built from London to the ford, which carried the principal road to [[Colchester]]. There may also have been a ford further south at Bow,<ref name=baker88>{{harvnb |Baker |1998 |pp=88–90}}</ref> and a further causeway existed between [[Homerton]] and [[Leyton]], known as ''Wanstead Slip''.<ref name=maddocks1933/>

These crossings passed across a true marsh, either side of the River Lea. This wide, fast flowing river was then tidal as far as [[Hackney Wick]], and navigable as far as [[Hertfordshire]].<ref name=baker88/> Dates for the earliest use of the rivers by boats are unknown, although a late Bronze Age dugout canoe and parts of a Saxon barge have been found in the marshes at [[Walthamstow]]. The first alteration to the natural river may have been made by [[Alfred the Great]], who cut another channel to strand a force of [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]] in 896, according to the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]''.<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |p=13}}</ref> This lowered the tide head to Old Ford, and prevented large boats sailing the river until the 15th century.<ref name=maddocks1933/>

{{Bow Back Rivers map}}
During the reign of [[Henry I of England|King Henry I]], in 1100, his wife Queen Matilda (or Maud), directed that the road should be routed further south, and paid for two bridges, one to cross the Lee and the other to cross the Channelsea River, from her own funds. She also paid for the road to be built between them, and the location of the bridge became known as Stratford-atte-Boghe, later Stratford-le-Bow, and finally dropped Stratford to become Bow or Bow Bridge. [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]], writing in the 1500s, gives a more fanciful account, in which the queen falling into the water prompted the action. The addition of le-Bow probably had less to do with the shape of the bridge than the fact that ''arch'' was derived from ''arcus'', meaning ''bow''.<ref>{{harvnb |Lysons |1795 |pp=489–502}}</ref> This was the style of French bridges rather than the Anglo Saxon straight construction, and its design gave it its name.

In 1135, [[Stratford Langthorne Abbey]] was founded. The Abbey continued the process of draining Stratford marsh begun in the [[Middle Ages]] and creating artificial channels to drive water and tide mills. A small river port developed at Stratford, mentioned in the 15th century, to serve the needs of Stratford Abbey and the mills at Stratford, and there is similar evidence in later centuries. The Abbey took on responsibility to maintain the marsh walls around [[Bow Creek (England)|Bow Creek]], to keep the tidal waters out.<ref name=WestHam/> The river was being used for the transport of goods and passengers by 1571, when an [[act of Parliament]], the [[River Lee Navigation Act 1571]] ([[13 Eliz. 1]]. c. 18), empowered the [[Lord Mayor of London]] to make improvements to the river to ensure that supplies of grain continued to reach the capital. These works included a new cut near the Thames, probably the section of river between Bow Tidal Gates and Old Ford, on which no tolls were to be charged, and a [[Lock (water transport)|pound lock]] was constructed at [[Waltham Abbey (town)|Waltham Abbey]], only the second to be built in England.<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |p=16}}</ref>

Between Bow Bridge and Channelsea Bridge there were three others, said in 1303 to have been built to fill the gaps caused by the cutting of mill streams through Maud's causeway, although there is evidence that the mills pre-dated the causeway. However, the mill owners took responsibility for the bridges, which crossed the mill streams for St Thomas's, Spileman's and Saynes mills. The last two were owned by the City of London, and the bridges were called Pegshole and St Michael's Bridges. An administrative mistake around 1814 resulted in the City of London taking responsibility for St Thomas's Bridge, but the miller did not complain as Pegshole bridge was smaller and therefore less costly to maintain. The names were eventually swapped, and all three were replaced by Groves Bridge in 1933, which crossed the widened Three Mills Wall River, the two branches of the Waterworks River having been combined into Three Mills Wall River, while Three Mills Wall Back River was filled in.<ref name=WestHam/>

Crossing the Back Rivers by a series of low-level bridges is the [[Northern Outfall Sewer]] which leads to the [[Abbey Mills Pumping Station]], both of which were designed by [[Joseph Bazalgette]] in the 1860s.<ref>{{harvnb |Cross-Rudkin |Chrimes |2008 |p=67}}</ref> Today, the route of the embankment that encloses the sewer from [[Bow, London|Bow]] to [[Beckton]] is followed by a public footpath, [[Greenway, London|The Greenway]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/conMediaFile.8089/The-Northern-Outfall-Sewer-east-of-Stratford.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217134317/http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/conMediaFile-8089/The-Northern-Outfall-Sewer-east-of-Stratford.html |archive-date=17 February 2021 |url-status=live |title=The Northern Outfall Sewer east of Stratford |publisher=Port Cities |access-date=12 December 2007}}</ref>

===Public water supply===
Water was extracted from the rivers to provide a public water supply. The opening of the [[New River (London)|New River]] in 1633, a {{convert|40|mi|km|adj=on}} channel built to bring water to London from Amwell springs, and soon afterwards from the River Lea near [[Ware, Hertfordshire|Ware]], had a detrimental effect on both navigation and milling by reducing water levels.<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |p=17}}</ref> Around 1745, the West Ham Waterworks Company built a waterworks at Saynes Mill in Stratford, the river on which it was located later being known as Waterworks River.<ref name=WestHam/> The East London Waterworks Company was set up in 1807, and built works at Old Ford, where they extracted water from the river. The supply to the works was moved further upstream in 1829, and in 1830 they built a canal, running parallel to the Hackney Cut, so that water could be obtained from Lea Bridge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/1859map/eastlondon_waterworks.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610150111/http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/1859map/eastlondon_waterworks.html |archive-date=10 June 2020 |url-status=live |title=East London Waterworks Company, Brief history during the Snow era, 1813–1858 |publisher=UCLA Epidemiology |access-date=31 July 2008}}</ref> Much of the work was carried out by the contractor [[William Hoof]], who had gained a reputation as a specialist tunnelling contractor, after working on Strood Tunnel for the [[Thames and Medway Canal]] and [[Harecastle Tunnel]] on the [[Trent and Mersey Canal]]. He worked on the waterworks project from 1829 until 1834.<ref>{{harvnb |Skempton |2002 |p=334}}</ref> Where there had been a reservoir to the south of the Middlesex Filter Beds weir in 1850,<ref name=os1850>Ordnance Survey, London Town Plans, 1:5280, 1850</ref> maps from 1870 show the site occupied by a waterworks, and the canal which supplied the Old Ford works running beside the Hackney Cut. Another large reservoir, triangular in shape, was located between the old river and the Hackney Cut at Old Ford, with two connections to the old river. The water supply canal passed under the old river to feed two compensation reservoirs to the north of the [[Great Eastern Railway]] tracks. A covered reservoir was situated on the west bank of the old river.<ref name=os1870>Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map, 1870</ref>

The Waterworks River underwent considerable change over the years. In 1850, it left the channel of the Old River Lee much further to the north, to the south-west of Temple Mills railway depot. It was called Lead Mills Stream at this point. Near Temple Mills bridge, now on the A12 road, Channelsea River split off. The two channels ran parallel to the Old River Lee, before Channelsea River turned to the south-east. There was another small connection between the Old River Lee and the Waterworks River called Bully Fence, where the northern Channelsea River is shown on modern maps.<ref name=os1850/> By 1870, it was called Waterworks River as far north as Temple Mills depot,<ref name=os1870/> and by 1896, its present connection to the old river near to Carpenters Road had been established.<ref>Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map, 1896</ref> Twenty years later, the northern Waterworks River rejoined the Lee at Bully Fence, and the section between there and Carpenters Road had been filled in.<ref>Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map, 1916</ref> At some point, the connection at Bully Fence became the main source for the Channelsea River, although the 1953/66 map still shows it connected to the remnants of the system to the north, for drainage.<ref>Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map, 1953/1966</ref> Administrative boundaries still follow the northern course of the Waterworks River.

===Navigation===
Although the River Lee was navigable up to Hertford, this had been achieved by the use of [[flash lock]]s, where a single gate created a channel through a weir. These caused conflict between the bargemen and the millers, since operation of the lock lowered the water level above it, hindering the operation of the mill. In 1765, the engineer [[John Smeaton]] was asked to survey the river, with a view to improving it "for the good of the public". His report of September 1766 highlighted the need to replace the flash locks with the more modern [[Lock (water transport)|pound locks or pen sluices]], each with two sets of gates. Significantly for the Bow Back Rivers, he suggested a new cut from Lea Bridge to Old Ford, and another from Bow Tidal Gates to a basin at Limehouse. The first became known as the [[Hackney Cut]], and the second as the [[Limehouse Cut]]. An [[act of Parliament]], the [[River Lee Navigation Act 1767]] ([[7 Geo. 3]]. c. 51), was obtained on 29 June 1767, and work began.<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |pp=16,20–21}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb |Skempton |2002 |pp=622, 626}}</ref>

The Limehouse Cut would give direct access to the [[River Thames]], avoiding the tidal Bow Creek. It was expected to open in July 1770, but some of the brickwork collapsed, and had to be repaired before the cut opened on 17 September 1770. It closed again briefly in December, when a bridge collapsed into it, and it was soon decided that it was too narrow, and so was widened to allow barges to pass each other along its complete length. This work was finished on 1 September 1777.<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |pp=21–22}}</ref> The contract for the Hackney Cut was given to Jeremiah Ilsley on 18 January 1768, and a bricklayer called Henry Holland was asked to build two locks on the cut on 23 April 1768. A millwright from Bromley called Mr Cooper was given the job of building Bromley Lock (close to Bow tidal gates). Work progressed quickly, and the cut was opened for traffic on 7 August 1769.<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |pp=22–23}}</ref>

The River Lee Navigation Act 1767 had specified points on the river at which tolls could be collected, but had made no mention of tolls for use of Bow Creek, Bow Back Rivers, or the section of the navigation between Bow tidal gates and Old Ford, and these had remained toll-free. An [[act of Parliament (UK)|act of Parliament]], the [[Lee Navigation Improvement Act 1850]] ([[13 & 14 Vict.]] c. cix), obtained on 14 August 1850 allowed the trustees to build a pound lock at Bow tidal gates. To prevent opposition from the bargees, the act had formalised the freedom from tolls on the Bow River section. Once the lock was built, however, the trustees charged a toll for using it. This was unpopular, but there was still the option of using the tidal gates at certain states of the tide, which did not incur a toll. A clause to authorise the lock toll was deleted by Parliament from a subsequent act, the [[Lee Conservancy Act 1868]] ([[31 & 32 Vict.]] c. cliv), and it was still the case in 1977 that a charge was made for using the lock but not for using the gates.<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |pp=30–31}}</ref>
 
By 1821, Stratford was served by a number of wharves, some located on the Lea and others on the Channelsea River or other branches. In addition to wharves for general goods, some specifically handled timber, chalk, stone, coal, or wheat. Several of the factories and mills had private wharves. By this date, a dock had been built near [[Bow, London|Bow Bridge]] to the south of the High Street. It was about {{convert|80|by|50|yd|m|0}}, and was connected to the river by its own channel. It was initially called Stratford Dock, later becoming Meggs Dock and was probably constructed by the ''Middlesex and Essex Turnpike Trust''. Half of it had been filled in by 1896, and the rest by 1920.<ref name=WestHam>{{harvnb |Powell |1973a |pp=57–61}}</ref>

In the 1860s, the income from the navigation had dropped, as a result of attempts to compete against the railways, but economies were made, and capital works continued. The lock at Lea Bridge was removed, and replaced by Old Ford Lock further to the south, which was built to take 100-ton barges, rather than the 40-ton barges specified by the [[Lee Navigation Improvement Act 1805]] ([[45 Geo. 3]]. c. lxix).<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |pp=29,32}}</ref> Although the original Lee trustees, and after 1868 the Conservators of the River Lee, were officially responsible for the Bow Back Rivers, there was little incentive to maintain them, since they did not generate any revenue. Nor could they be closed, since they allowed surplus water from the upper river to reach the Thames, without causing flooding.<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |pp=35–36}}</ref>

===Regeneration===
The rivers were run down by the 1920s and, with high unemployment in the area, West Ham Corporation and the Lee Conservancy Board applied for a government unemployment relief grant, with which to fund major improvements. In addition to work on the channels, Bow Tidal Lock was duplicated, Marshgate Lock was rebuilt further east as City Mill Lock, and a second new lock at Carpenters Road was constructed. It used up-and-over radial gates operated by winches, rather than the traditional mitre gates used at City Mill Lock. The gates were quadrant-shaped, and were raised out of the river to allow boats to enter or leave the lock. An act of Parliament was obtained to authorise the work, called the [[River Lee (Flood Relief, &c.) Act 1930]] ([[20 & 21 Geo. 5]]. c. cxcii), and work began the following year. The project was completed in 1935.<ref name=boyes36>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |p=36}}</ref> Before the work, there had been a floodgate on the Waterworks River above its junction with the Three Mills Wall River, and a large pool, the City Mill Pool, connecting to the City Mills River and Saint Thomas Creek. Marshgate Lock was situated to the west of the junction between the Pudding Mill River and Saint Thomas Creek. It was originally built in 1864, by adding a second set of gates to Hunters Gates, a floodgate which had been built around 1847. The reconstructed lock was built on the site of the City Mill Pool, and had two sets of gates at its eastern end, to prevent high tidal levels in Waterworks River flooding the waterways to the west. It was labelled Marshgate Lane Lock on the 1948 map, but was called Ward Lock, after a local councillor, and is now known as City Mills Lock. The course of the Saint Thomas Creek was then straightened, and the original Marshgate Lock was bypassed. Pudding Mill River became a dead end when the lower section was filled in, as was most of the Three Mills Back River, and the floodgate on Waterworks River was also removed.<ref>Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 maps, 1916, 1948</ref>{{sfn |Thomas |2010a}} Reconstruction of the channels included widening City Mill River to {{convert|50|ft|m}}, while Three Mills Wall River and Waterworks River were made twice that width.<ref name=WestHam/>

[[File:River Lea steps.jpg|thumb|left|Steps going down to the tow path, used in the past by horses]]
Prior to the work, the arrangement had been to regulate the navigation with the [[Pond Lane Flood Gates]] and Marshgate Lane tidal lock. The new lock at [[Carpenter's Road Lock|Carpenter's Road]] gave access to the Waterworks River, providing barge access to [[Temple Mills]]. At high tides, the low headroom of the Northern Outfall Sewer aqueduct prevented access to the southern reaches of the system, and to allow access [[City Mill Lock]] was constructed near Blaker Road.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.londoncanals.co.uk/bbrivers/citycarp.html |title=City Mill & Carpenters Road Locks |publisher=London Canals |access-date=18 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802063053/http://www.londoncanals.co.uk/bbrivers/citycarp.html |archive-date=2 August 2008 }}</ref> In 2005, the lock was partially restored as part of the [[planning gain]] required from the developers of the adjacent Bellamy Homes housing scheme.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/579697.lock-comes-back-to-life/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217142846/https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/579697.lock-comes-back-to-life/ |archive-date=17 February 2021 |url-status=live |first=Tom |last=Hutchison |title=Lock comes back to life |work=East London and West Essex Guardian|date=20 March 2005}}</ref>

The 1930s improvements included the construction of the Prescott Channel, designed to allow flood water to bypass the Three Mills tide mills. The channel included sluices to regulate water levels above it, but these became redundant once the tide mills ceased to operate, and eventually seized up.<ref name=bbc060408/> They were removed soon after parts of the Channelsea River were culverted.<ref name="bw-potted">{{cite web|url=http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/olympics/history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207004136/http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/olympics/history/ |archive-date=7 February 2012 |title=Bow Back Rivers – A potted history |publisher=British Waterways |url-status=dead }}</ref>

By the 1960s, only the Saint Thomas Creek, the City Mills River and the Channelsea River were still being used for commercial traffic. A section of the Channelsea River between Stratford High Street and Lett Road was culverted between 1957 and 1958.<ref name=boyes36/> As traffic ceased, the lock structures deteriorated, and by 2006, City Mills Lock and Carpenters Road Lock were officially disused.{{sfn |Nicholson |2006 |pp=102–104}} The [[Transport Act 1968]] had classified most waterways into commercial, cruising and remainder waterways. Remainder waterways were those for which the government of the time could see no economic future, and which would only therefore be subject to maintenance to prevent them becoming unsafe.{{sfn |Squires |2008 |p=64}} The Bow Back Rivers fell into this category, and remained neglected until their full restoration was enshrined in a [[British Waterways]] policy document in 2002.<ref name="bw-potted"/>