*THREAD*

Lost River of London

Starting in Whitestone Pond, Hampstead Heath, which is the highest point in London, the River Westbourne merges with the Kilbourne at the site of Kilburn Priory which dated from Henry 1

Bourne means River in Anglo Saxon

Kilbourne means Cow River

Kilburn Priory was a small community of nuns in 1134.

It was at the Kilburn river crossing on Watling Street (modern-day junction of Kilburn High Road and Belsize Road).

Kilburn Priory's position on Watling Street meant it was a popular resting point for pilgrims heading for shrines at St Albans and Willesden

The river supplied water and fish for the nuns and pilgrims.

The water from this spring was then discovered to contain properties similar to Epsom Salts and gave rise to spas and pleasure gardens including the Kilburn Wells or Bell Inn.

All that is left of it now is a plaque on the wall and floor on Kilburn High Road

River Westbourne passed under Bayswater Road.

A bayard was a horse which would have drunk from the river.

Bayswater is said to have been derived from "Bayards Watering Place"

Recorded in 1380 as the place where horses were refreshed on their way in or out of London

In 1730, the Westbourne River was dammed up under orders from Queen Caroline, wife of George II, to increase the aesthetics of the Royal Hyde Park.

This created The Serpentine

Two crossings of the Westbourne River are well documented and infamous.

One at Knightsbridge had a stone bridge & was a haunt of highwaymen & robbers for centuries
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It was an unsavoury area, cut off from London with a number of public houses & badly kept roads

One legend is the Knightsbridge over the River Westbourne was used by knights going to London to fight in holy wars.

They used this route to eceive a blessing from the Bishop of London at Fulham

Two knights using the bridge had a fight & both fell into the river to their deaths

In 1790, in order to improve the quality of the streets so ladies didn't injure themselves whilst walking, a Knightsbridge Paving Act was requested.

This increased the value of the land to become the upscale area it is today with grand Victorian houses, leafy streets & museums

The bridge at Sloane Square was called Blandal Bridge & nicknamed Bloody bridge after the murder of Lord Harrington's cook who was attacked and beaten to death by highwaymen.

The original bridge was just a plank across the river.

The River Westbourne used to be pure as it flowed into the City of London.

However it became filthy and an open cesspit.

Due to the improvement of the areas it flowed through, the upper classes didn't want this & the river was encased in sewer pipes and hidden from sight.

Noises resulting from the river being encased in a sewer pipe has been blamed for many instances of alleged hauntings of cellars in houses in the area.

One place you can still see the pipe where the River Westbourne is carried through London is above the platform of Sloane Square tube station

The pipe is the original 19th C & although the tube station was badly bombed in WW2, the old iron pipe was not damaged.

After flowing beneath a corner of Chelsea Barracks, the river flows into the Thames.