From the junction of the Cherwell the Thames flows south-south east to the junction of the Thame at Dorchester, making however a considerable bend westward to Abingdon, where it receives the Ock on the left bank. The Thanes rises near Stewkley in Buckinghamshire, between Winslow and Leighton Buzzard, and flows south-west by the town of Theme into the Thames, which it joins on the left bank. From Dorchester the course of the Thames is soutleenet by Walling ford to the junction of the Kennet near Reading. The Kennet rises near Broad Minton, a village to the north of Marlborough Downs, flows south to FAA Kennet, and then, turning eastward, flows by Marlborough, Newbury, and Reading into the Thames, which It joins on the right bank. It receives the Lambourn and the Emboum or Auburn.
From the junction of the Kennet the Thames flows eastward, thoegh in a very winding channel, making first a considerable circuit to the north by Henley, Great Marlow, and Maidenhead, to Windsor; and then a considerable circuit to the south by Staines, Chertaey, Kingston, and Richmond, to Brentford, whence it proceeds by Ham mersmith, Putney, end Chelsea, to the metropolis. In this part of its course the Thames receives several feeders. The Loddon rises in the chalk downs of North Haute, near Basingatoke ; the Coyne rises, under the name of the Ver, in the chalk downs of Hertfortlabire, and passes St. Albans, Watford, Rickmansworth, Uxbridge, and Colebrook ; the Wey rises near Alton, Hants, passes Farnham, Godalming, and Guild ford, and joins the Thames st Weybridgo ; the Mole rises on St. Leonard's Forest, in Sussex, passes through Leatherhead, and joins the Thames at East Molesey ; the Cran and the Brent, two small streams, rise on the borders of Middlesex and Harts, and join the Thames, the first at Isleworth, the second at Tirentford ; and the 1Vandle, a short stream, joins it at Wandsworth. Of these, the Coble, the Cran, and the Brent, fall into the Thames on the left bank ; the others on the right bank.
Below London, up to which sea-borne vessels ascend, the river flows eastward, but with various reaches or bends, 54 miles to its mouth, or to the Nore Light (at the commonly reputed mouth), 46i miles. Between Deptford and Greenwich, about four miles below London Bridge, the Thames receives on the right bank the Itavenabotime, from Keeton, near Bromley, in Kent; about two or three miles farther down, on the left bank, the Les, which rises in Bedfordshire ; four or five miles lower, the Rotting, from near Dimmow, also on the lrft bank; and six miles lower, on the right bank, the Decent, which passes Dart ford and receives the Cray. The only remaining feeder of the Thames which her requires notice is the Medway, which rises in Sussex, and flows by Maidstone, Rochester, and Chatham. The principal arm of
the Medway joins the Thames at Sheerness just above the Nore; but the smaller arm, called the Swale, which cuts off the Isle of Sheppey from the mainland, opens into the Thames just above Whitstable.
The whole course of the Thames, from its source to its mouth, is about 220 miles. The principal affluents of the Thames are more fully described under the counties to which they respectively belong. The Thames, in the first part of its course, belongs wholly to Glouces tershire, but below Cricklade in almost entirely a border river, dividing Gloucestershire from Wiltshire, Oxfordahire and Buckinghamshire from Berkshire, Middlesex from Surrey, and Essex from Kent. Some part of its course is therefore described in the articles on those counties.
Commercial Importance.—Tho navigation of the Thames commences at Lechlade, where the river is about 253 feet above low-water mark at London Bridge. Its importance was early appreciated, and there are Acts of Parliament relating to it as early as the 2nd Henry VI. The Thames and Severn Canal, which follows the valley of the Churn and the Thames from near Cirencester, opens into the Thames at Lechlade, thus connecting it with the Severn and the western coast of the island. None of the tributaries above Oxford are navigable. At Oxford the Oxford Canal joins the Thames, and opens a communication with the grand canal system of the central counties. It follows the course of the Cherwell from above Banbury. At Abingdon the Wilts and Berke Canal joins the Thames, and, as well an tho Kennet and Aron Canal, which joins the Kennet at Newbury, opens a communi cation with the Somersetshire (or Bristol) Avon, and by it with the Severn. The Wey is navigable from Gorinlming, about 17 miles from its junction, and is connected with the Wey and Arun Canal, and the Basingstoke Canal, the former of which opens a communication with the river Arun and the Sussex coast. The Grand Junction Canal, which unites with the Oxford Canal at Braunatoo, in Northampton shire, opens into the Thames by the mouth of the Brent, the lower part of which is incorporated with the canal. • Below London Bridge. the Lea, which is navigable chiefly by artificial cuts for 25 miles, and has one of its feeders (the Stort) also navigable, opens into the Thames; and just above the Lea, the Regent's Canal, which encircles the north and east sides of the metropolis, and communicates with the Padding ton Canal, and so with the Grand Junction Canal, also opens into the river.