Thames

• The River Thames is the longest river in England at 215 miles (346km) and the second longest in the UK, after the River Severn.

Names

• The Isis
  • The Thames is also known as the Isis, between the source of the river at Thames Head in Gloucestershire to the junction with the river Thame at Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.
• The Tamesa or Tamesis
  • The Romans referred to the Thames as the Tamesa or Tamesis. Antiquarians in the Middle Ages thought this name might be derived from joining the names of its two tributaries, the river Thame and the river Isis.

Description

• The Upper Thames
  • This rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire and runs through Oxford, Dorchester-on-Thames, Henley-on-Thames, Reading and Windsor.
• The Lower Thames
  • Also called the Tideway which extends from where the North Sea meets the Thames Estuary near Tilbury and Gravesend, up through Greater London to the first Wier at Teddington Lock.
  • There are 200 miles (322km) of Flood Walls or Embankments protecting the Flood Plain between Teddington Lock and the North Sea. These date from the Middle Ages to the Victorian Era.
  • The Walls effectively make the Tideway a wide canal and therefore suitable for shipping as far as the Port of London.
• Locks
  • The Thames is navigated by 45 Locks, each located next to a Weir.
• Tributaries
  • The river is supplied by 50 tributaries.

River Thames