The New River near Hazelwood Lane

Image: © Marathon Taken: 21 Oct 2015

The New River was completed between 1609 and its official opening on 29th September 1613. It was designed to bring clean water to London at a time when the heavily-polluted River Thames was the main source of drinking water. Sir Hugh Myddleton devised a 40 mile course that followed the contours of the land and only dropped about two inches every mile. It ran from springs near Ware in Hertfordshire to New River Head near the Angel, Islington but now finishes at Stoke Newington. Stoke Newington Reservoirs were constructed in 1833 to purify the New River water and to act as a water reserve, but since 1946 the New River's main flow has ended at Stoke Newington Reservoirs. The New River remains an essential part of London’s water supply. The part to the south of Stoke Newington, where it survives, is more like a linear pond, but from Green Lanes upriver the water still flows as it has done for over 400 years. Much of it is followed by the New River Path as here just north of Hazelwood Lane in Palmers Green.

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