River Lee Country Park
Encyclopedia
Lee Valley Park
Lee Valley Regional Park is a long linear park, much of it green spaces, running through the northeast of London, Essex and Hertfordshire from the River Thames to Ware in Hertfordshire, England through areas such as Hackney, Tottenham, Enfield, Stratford, Tower Hamlets, Walthamstow, Cheshunt,...
and is managed by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is a statutory body that is responsible for managing and developing the long, Lee Valley Regional Park. The park was established by Parliament in 1967. The headquarters of the authority are based at Myddleton House, Bulls Cross in the London Borough of Enfield,...
. Covering 1000 acre (404.7 ha) acres on either side of the River Lee Navigation
River Lee Navigation
The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea . Its course runs from Hertford Castle Weir all the way to the River Thames at Bow Creek. The first lock of the navigation is Hertford Lock the last being Bow Locks....
between Waltham Abbey
Waltham Abbey, Essex
Waltham Abbey is a market town of about 20,400 people in the south west of the county of Essex, in the East of England region. It is about 24 km north of London on the Greenwich Meridian and lies between the River Lea in the west and Epping Forest in the east. It takes its name from The Abbey...
and Broxbourne
Broxbourne
Broxbourne is a commuter town in the Broxbourne borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England with a population of 13,298 in 2001.It is located 17.1 miles north north-east of Charing Cross in London and about a mile north of Wormley and south of Hoddesdon...
. An area of lakes, watercourses, open spaces and three Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) linked by footpaths and cycle tracks.
The site straddles the Hertfordshire/Essex boundary; a map showing which parts of the park are in which county can be found here.
History
Since the 1930s the area which was originally part of the River Lea flood plain has been the centre of the sand and gravel industry, as a result there are many mature gravel pitGravel pit
Gravel pit is the term for an open cast working for extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may fill naturally with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used either as nature reserves, or as amenity areas...
s. Unfortunately some of the lakes were used for land fill purposes. In a joint effort by the St Albans Sand and Gravel Co Ltd and the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is a statutory body that is responsible for managing and developing the long, Lee Valley Regional Park. The park was established by Parliament in 1967. The headquarters of the authority are based at Myddleton House, Bulls Cross in the London Borough of Enfield,...
the area has been transformed, with much of the park a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
(SSSI)
Olympics 2012
The park at the Showground site, Highbridge Street A121, Waltham CrossWaltham Cross
Waltham Cross is the most southeasterly town in Hertfordshire, England. It is 12 miles from the City of London and immediately north of the M25 motorway, forming part of the Greater London Urban Area and London commuter belt. Part of Waltham Cross is located within Greater London.-Geography:It is...
is the chosen venue for the 2012 Olympics canoeing
Broxbourne (canoeing venue)
Lee Valley White Water Centre will host the canoe slalom events of the 2012 Summer Olympics. On 9 December 2010, Anne, Princess Royal officially opened the venue. The £31 million project was finished on schedule and was the first newly-constructed Olympic venue to be completed...
events. The site will be known as the Lee Valley White Water Centre.
Watercourses
- Cornmill StreamCornmill StreamThe Cornmill Stream is a minor tributary of the River Lea in the English county of Essex.- History :The stream is an artificial watercourse which may have been built by 1086 to serve the mills mentioned in the Domesday Book at Waltham Abbey...
, flows from the Lea at Fishers GreenFishers GreenFishers Green is a locality north of Waltham Abbey, Essex on the B194 road on the section known as the Crooked Mile.- River Lee Country Park :Fishers Green is in the River Lee Country Park...
to rejoin the Lea at Waltham Abbey. - Millhead StreamMillhead StreamThe Millhead Stream is a minor tributary of the River Lea. The stream flows north to south across the Waltham Abbey flood plain and through the site of the former Royal Gunpowder Mills.- History :...
, flows through the former Royal Gunpowder MillsRoyal Gunpowder MillsRoyal Gunpowder Mills may refer to:* Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills* Faversham* Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills...
at Waltham Abbey. - River Lea
- River Lee Flood Relief ChannelRiver Lee Flood Relief ChannelThe River Lee Flood Relief Channel is located in the Lea Valley and flows between Ware, Hertfordshire and Stratford, east London. Work started on the channel in 1947 following major flooding and was fully operational by 1976...
, the Channel incorporates the former Horsemill Stream close to Waltham Abbey. - River Lee NavigationRiver Lee NavigationThe Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea . Its course runs from Hertford Castle Weir all the way to the River Thames at Bow Creek. The first lock of the navigation is Hertford Lock the last being Bow Locks....
- Small River LeaSmall River LeaSmall River Lea is a minor tributary of the River Lea, which flows through the Lee Valley Park between Cheshunt and Enfield Lock. It forms part of the Turnford and Cheshunt Pits Site of Special Scientific Interest as it flows through the River Lee Country Park.- Course :The river leaves the Old...
Lakes
Turnford and Cheshunt Pits
The Turnford and Cheshunt Pits is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the English counties of Hertfordshire and Essex and covers a total of 428.17 acres . -Location:...
SSSI.
- Bowyers Water. Believed to be hand dug in the 1920s, and one of the oldest lakes in the Lee Valley.
- Cheshunt Lake. Home of the Herts Young Mariners.
- Friday Lake A carpCarpCarp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...
fishery. - Hall Marsh Scrape. The lake was specifically constructed for the use by wildfowl.
- Holyfield Lake. The 180 acre (72.8 ha) lake incorporates part of the River Lee Flood Relief Channel.
- Hooks Marsh Lake The over- wintering bitternGreat BitternThe Eurasian Bittern or Great Bittern is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae. It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds applies.-Etymology:...
can be found here between December and March. - North Metropolitan. Better known as North Met Pit. Due to the many islands and inlets, the lake has an estimated shoreline of 4 miles (6.4 km).
- Seventy Acres Lake. The bittern and the otterOtterThe Otters are twelve species of semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals....
can be seen here. - Turnford Pits. Small relics of unimproved grassland that preceded gravel extraction can be found adjacent to the lakes.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
The park contains three SSSIs;- Cornmill Stream and Old River LeaCornmill Stream and Old River LeaThe Cornmill Stream and Old River Lea is a Site of Special Scientific Interest which is located within the River Lee Country Park at Waltham Abbey Essex.- Location :...
- Turnford and Cheshunt PitsTurnford and Cheshunt PitsThe Turnford and Cheshunt Pits is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the English counties of Hertfordshire and Essex and covers a total of 428.17 acres . -Location:...
- Waltham Abbey SSSIWaltham Abbey SSSIThe Waltham Abbey SSSI is a Site of Special Scientific Interest which is located within the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey Essex. - History :...