London's Lost Rivers

 

From the sources of the River Fleet in Hempstead's ponds, to the mouth of the Effra by Vauxhall Bridge, via the meander of the Westbourne through "Knight's Bridge" and the Tyburn's gentle curve along Marylebone Lane, London's Lost Rivers unearths the hidden waterways that flow beneath the streets of the capital. It investigates how the rivers shaped the city—forming borough boundaries, providing paths for railways to follow, and converted into canals to assist the capital's industrial growth, or turned into underground sewers to make way for smart residential estates. It points out traces that are still visible today, such as steps descending an old riverbank in Bayswater, or a river-filled pipe passing above Sloane Square Underground Station. And it explains the watery history to more familiar London sights—the impressive Holborn Viaduct, for example, constructed to span the Fleet Valley; and the Serpentine Lake, formed when Queen Caroline wanted to dam the Westbourne where it flowed through Hyde Park.