ENGLAND. 



685 



The 



Thames. 



Origin and 

 course. 



Statistics, a full and regular description of them belongs to this 

 article, not only for that reason, hut also, as without 

 this description our account of England would be unsa- 

 tisfactory and incomplete ; we shall therefore give an 

 account of the origin, course, and termination of these 

 rivers, and annex to that account a very brief notice of 

 the other smaller and less celebrated rivers of this coun- 

 try. In the last edition of Camden's Brittania that was 

 published by himself, (1605,) there is a table, from 

 which it appears that there are upwards of 550 rivers and 

 rivulets in England and Wales, distinguished by parti- 

 cular names. 



The sources of the Thames are generally admitted to 

 be four rivulets, that rise in different parts of the Cots- 

 wold Hills in Gloucestershire, viz. the Lech, the Colne, 

 the Churne, and the Isis. The last, which is the most 

 important, and which retains its name the longest, 

 after receivingthe two other streams, becomes navigable; 

 but for a considerable space the navigation is tedious 

 and difficult, on account of its winding course, and its 

 prevailing shallows. The country through which the 

 Isis flows at first is not pleasant or interesting, as it 

 pursues its way almost unseen, in the middle of an un- 

 varied plain, first towards the east, and afterwards in- 

 clining to the north. After being augmented by two 

 small streams, it turns suddenly to the south, and the 

 plain now expands into a spacious amphitheatre, bound- 

 ed by some striking hills, in the centre of which Ox- 

 ford appears in sight. At this place the Isis divides 

 into several small channels, leaving this city on the left : 

 the branches, however, soon reunite, and the river turns 

 found the city towards the north-east. Below Oxford 

 it ig joined by the Cherwell, which, passing on the 

 eastern side of that city, together with the Isis, nearly 

 insulates it 



The windings of the river through the great level 

 which it flows through, after passing Oxford, are fre- 

 quent ; but the general direction of its course is to 

 tlu- south, with a small inclination to the east, as it 

 passes the Berkshire hills, and the town of Dorchester 

 in Oxfordshire. A short distance below this place it is 

 joined by the Thame. This river takes its rise from 

 several small streams, some of which descend from the 

 central parts of Buckinghamshire, others from the bor- 

 ders of Hertfordshire, and many from the lower parts 

 of Oxfordshire. 



After the junction of the Isis and the Thame, this 

 river obtains its proper name, being originally called 

 Thame-isis from this circumstance. From Walling- 

 ford to Pangbourn the inclination of the stream is al- 

 most due south ; at the latter place it begins to form a 

 considerable circle by the east to the north, below Read- 

 ing, till it reaches Henley ; after passing this latter 

 place it inclines by the north-east to the south again, 

 to approach Maidenhead ; hence it winds in various 

 directions, but generally south-east, till it passes Mud- 

 son and Staines. It there forms a vast circle by the 

 south to the east, till it reaches Brentford ; after which, 

 as it approaches London, its direction is, for the most 

 part, to the north-east. In the vicinity of the metro- 

 polis it turns with a bold swell to the ea.st : this direc- 

 tion it preserves, though occasionally varied by broad 

 readies, as they are called, till it falls into the sea. 



In its passage the Thames receives no fewer than six 

 considerable rivers that are not navigable, and eleven 

 tliat are. Its course has been computed about 160 

 miles, of which it is navigable above 1 30 from its mouth. 

 As far as Deptford it is navigable for vessels of almost 



any burden; to the pool for vessels of 400 tons; to SiatKict. 

 London Bridge for those of 200. The tides flow up ^ V"-' 

 to nearly the distance of 80 miles from its mouth. The 

 fall of water from Oxford to Maidenhead is alrout 25 

 feet in every ten miles ; from Maidenhead to Chertsey 

 22 feet in the same distance ; from Chertsey bridge to 

 Mortlake 16 feet ; from Mortlake to London about one 

 foot per mile. Afterwards the fall diminishes more 

 gradually, till the river unites with the sea. 



The Thames is one of those rivers which rather de- its charat 

 rive their character from the country through which ter. 

 they flow, than impress their own character by their 

 boldness and rapidity on the tract they pursue. It 

 passes through some of the most beautiful, as well as 

 the most fertile districts of the kingdom ; but even 

 where the country through which it flows is hilly, it 

 never can be called a rapid stream ; it is not, however, 

 sluggish, but is more distinguishable for its majesty, and 

 the purity of its waters, which generally fill its verdant 

 banks, and are seldom discoloured by mud, except after 

 great floods. When these occur, the whole country in 

 the level parts of its tract appears like a sea ; but the 

 mischief which is thus occasioned, is much less than 

 that produced by smaller and more rapid streams, when 

 they overflow their banks. The part of its course most 

 distinguished for romantic scenery or picturesque beau- 

 ty, is that which stretches from Wallingford to Read- 

 ing, Henley, Marlow, and Maidenhead bridge. About 

 Henley in particular it sweeps through a rich and high- 

 ly beautiful country, to which it adds a majestic and 

 imposing feature ; its valleys in this part of its course 

 are bounded by hills richly clothed with beachwood, 

 and finely embellished by the seats of man}- of the prin- 

 cipal of the English nobility. Vast plains succeed, in 

 which the Thames constitutes the chief feature. As 

 it approaches London, its character changes, and the 

 richness of nature gives place to evidences of the power, 

 the wealth, and the skill of man. Mighty works of 

 art adorn its banks, which abound in populous towns 

 and villages. At London it is a superb tide river, 

 " full of vessels of every description, which arrest the 

 eye strongly in the bold sweeps it afterwards makes, 

 through increasing marshes to the sea, and to the end 

 it preserves that air of placid dignity and imposing con- 

 sequence, which distinguish so eminently this monarch 

 of the British rivers." 



The Severn, the second commercial river in the king- The ScTern. 

 dom, has its principal source in a small lake on the 

 eastern side of Plinlimmon, not far from the head of 

 the Wye. At first it bears the name of the Hafren 

 river, the name by which, through its whole course, it 

 was known to the Britons. From this source it flows 

 towards the south-east, and afterwards turns to the 

 north-east, as it approaches Newtown, where it takes 

 its proper name of Severn. Hence, through the de- 

 lightful vale of Montgomery, its course is almost due 

 north, till, entering the great plain of Shropshire beyond 

 Welshpool, it turns abruptly to the south-east. After- 

 wards pursuing the same direction, it almost encircles 

 the town of Shrewsbury. Flowing through the cele- 

 brated C.'olebroke dale, and passing Bridgnorth, it pur- 

 sues a southerly course, as it leaves the county of Sa- 

 lop, and enters Worcestershire, at Bewdley. Here it 

 again, a little lower, becomes a commercial river, being 

 joined by those numerous canals which bear all the 

 trade of Birmingham, Kidderminster, and the other 

 manufacturing towns of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, 

 and Worcestershire. 



