The New River at Winchmore Hill
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The New River at Winchmore Hill by Marathon as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Image: © Marathon Taken: 15 Mar 2017
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. 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 north of Ford's Grove. This view looks upriver.