River Improvement 129 



" It is perceived by many grave and wise men, as well of 

 the city of London as of the country, that it were very com- 

 modious and profitable both for the city and the country that 

 the river of Lea, otherwise called the Ware river, might be 

 brought within the land to the north part of the city . . . 

 through such a convenient and meet cut as may serve for the 

 navigation of barges and other vessels, for the carrying and 

 conveying as well of all merchandizes, corn and victuals, as 

 other necessaries from the town of Ware and other places to 

 the city . . . and also for tilt-boats and wherries for con- 

 veying of the Queen's subjects to and fro, to their great ease 

 and commodity." 



The Corporation of the City of London were authorised to 

 construct and act as conservators of the new channel, and 

 Commissioners in Middlesex, Essex and Hertfordshire were 

 again entrusted with the duty of freeing the river from shoals 

 and shallows. 



A number of other Acts relating to the Lea followed, but 

 mention need only be made here of one passed in 1779 which 

 stated that, inasmuch as the trustees appointed under earlier 

 enactments could not, without further advance in the rates 

 they were already empowered to enforce, liquidate the charges 

 falling upon them in respect to the outlay for works done on 

 the river, they were authorised to increase those rates. 



In the seventeenth century, especially in the period following 

 the accession of Charles II. to the throne (1660), much atten- 

 tion was paid to river improvement. A rapid expansion of 

 commerce, of industries and of wealth had followed alike the 

 planting of colonies in the West Indies and on the continent of 

 North America, the development of home manufactures, the 

 reclamation of many waste spaces through the operation of 

 enclosure Acts, and the improvements brought about in 

 cultivation. The need for better means of communication 

 in order to open up districts then more or less isolated, to 

 provide better transport for raw materials and manufactured 

 goods, and to facilitate the carriage of domestic and other 

 supplies needed by the increasing population, thus became 

 more and more apparent. 



In many instances the condition of the roads and the 

 prejudicial results upon them of heavy traffic were adduced 

 as the main reason for a resort to improvements of river 



