River Ravensbourne

Not to be confused withThe Ravensbourne.

Ravensbourne Deptford Creek
The river inBromley
Location
Country	England
London boroughs	London Borough of Bromley,London Borough of Lewisham,Royal Borough of Greenwich
Towns	Bromley,Lewisham,Deptford
Physical characteristics
Source	Keston
Mouth	River Thames
• location	Deptford
Length	17.4 km (10.8 mi)
Basin size	180 km2(69 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Catford Hill
• average	0.43 m3/s (15 cu ft/s)
• minimum	0.09 m3/s (3.2 cu ft/s)23 May 1992
• maximum	28.4 m3/s (1,000 cu ft/s)9 June 1992
Discharge
• location	Bromley South
• average	0.05 m3/s (1.8 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Ravensbourne South Branch, Ravensbourne East Branch, Spring Brook,River Pool,River Quaggy

TheRiver Ravensbourneis atributaryof theRiver Thamesinsouth London,England.It flows into the tidal River Thames atDeptford,where itstidal reachis known as Deptford Creek.

Geography

The Ravensbourne is 11 miles (17 km) in length with a totalcatchment areaof 180 km².It flows through theLondonBoroughs ofBromley,LewishamandGreenwich.

Caesar's Well on Keston Common, the source of the Ravensbourne

The Ravensbournerisesat Caesar's Well,Keston,four miles south of Bromley town centre, and flows initially in a northerly direction. For the initial third of its length, the river flows across common land (includingHayes Commonand Bromley Common) until it reaches the southern outskirts of Bromley town. There it is joined by the Ravensbourne South Branch and the Ravensbourne East Branch, which substantially increase the flow. The Ravensbourne then flows northwards alongside theA21,passing below Bromley town centre through Church Gardens and Glassmill Reservoir, then on intoBeckenham Place Park,the last semi-natural reach of the river. Further north, it passes through Ladywell Fields, where considerable restoration work has been taking place since 2007/08, with the removal of a long stretch of 1980's concrete channeling, re-routing to more closely match its natural course, and the introduction ofterracesand submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) to provide animal habitat and improve flood control.

North of Ladywell Fields, passing to the east ofLadywell station,it continues underLewisham,passing west of theLewisham Shopping Centreand forming the boundary of the Cornmill Gardens playground. It flows to the east ofLewisham station,and then flows north intoDeptford,forming the northeastern border ofBrookmill Park.TheDocklands Light Railwayclosely follows this stretch fromLewishamtoGreenwich,as the river is crossed by theA2and then widens north ofDeptford Bridge stationinto its tidal reach, where it is named Deptford Creek.

Itsconfluencewith the Thames is in Greenwich Reach, north-east ofDeptfordtown centre and west ofGreenwich.

Tributaries

South ofBellingham,the small Spring Brook joins the Ravensbourne after flowing only about one mile (1.6 km) from the east throughPlaistowandDownham;it crosses the borough boundary from Bromley to Lewisham and follows a narrow strip of parkland named Shaftesbury Park Recreation Ground and Downham Playing Fields along its short course.

Just aboveCatfordthe Ravensbourne is joined by theRiver Pool.The Ravensbourne is also joined by theRiver Quaggy(known upstream ofSundridge ParkasKyd Brook,and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) in length). This rises nearPrincess Royal University Hospitalat Locksbottom then flows north throughPetts Woodto Sundridge Park in Bromley where its name changes to the River Quaggy. It then flows northwards through theMottinghamarea toKidbrookewhere it then turns westwards through Manor Park inLee,before joining the Ravensbourne at Loampit Vale inLewisham.

Numerous other small streams and surface water outfalls join the main river between its source and confluence. Until the 19th century one such stream flowed fromBrockley Crosscrossing Tanners Hill before joining at Deptford Creek.

History

The earliest documented name isRandesbourne1360, thenRendesburne1372,Randysborne1516 andRavensburn1575. The later spelling ofRavensbourneis thus due to folk etymology, and the likely meaning is 'boundary stream', from Old Englishrandandburna.In its ten-mile course, the Ravensbourne forms the boundary between several sets of parishes.

TheDomesday Bookrecorded eleven cornmillson the Ravensbourne in the 11th century.The 17th century LondondiaristJohn Evelynbought one of these mills – Brookmills – in 1668 for "grinding colour" from the Beecher family. It was later used by the Kent Waterworks company. It was finally demolished in the 1850s.

The River Ravensbourne as it passes through Lewisham, under railway arches

The bridge over Deptford Creek was the site of theBattle of Deptford Bridge,17 June 1497, the last battle of theCornish Rebellion of 1497.

From the 16th century onwards until its closure in the 19th century, the proximity ofDeptford Dockyard,aRoyal Dockyardcreated byHenry VIII,gave employment to many small shipbuilders on thecreek.Queen Elizabeth IknightedFrancis Drakeon board theGolden Hindin Deptford Creek on Drake's return from his circumnavigation of the globe in 1580. TheGolden Hindremained moored in the creek until it broke up.

Deptford Creek was also host to a largepower station,now dismantled,as well as other heavy industries. Now regeneration of the area is under way. For much of the lower reach betweenLewishamand theThames,the Ravensbourne (and Deptford Creek) is joined by theDocklands Light Railway.Indeed, the channel was diverted in Brookmill Park so that the DLR could run along the route of the river. A new bend in the river was constructed that gave more natural banks and created a better habitat for flora and fauna. Just south of the DLR's final northern crossing of the river, on the eastern bank, isDeptford pumping station,constructed in the 1860s as part of theLondon sewerage system.There are also a number of new developments, including theLaban Dance Centreand apartment blocks at the mouth of the creek alongside the Thames, approximately 0.5 km west of Greenwich town centre.

Between 1974 and 1997, the name of the river was used for theRavensbourne Parliament constituencywithin the London Borough of Bromley. It also gives its name to arailway station. Every year on 1 May at 5.32am, the RavensbourneMorris Mendance up theBeltaineSunrise at Caesars Well, the source of the Ravensbourne River.

See also

• Tributaries of the River Thames
• List of rivers in England
• The River Quaggy
• Creekside Discovery Centre

External links

• London's Lost Rivers site