THAMES, teMz. The most important river in Great Britain. flowing with a southeastern trend through the southern portion of the Kingdom and passing through London (Map: England, G 5). Its remotest source, the Churn, rises on the southeast slope of the Cotswold Hills, in Gloucester, five miles south of Cheltenham, and after flowing southeast for 20 miles receives the Thames, or Isis, from the west. The Thames then 'lows east-northeast for about 35 miles, and curving southeast, passes Oxford and flows on to Reading, where it again changes its course to a generally eastward trend. A few miles be low Gravesend it expands into a wide estuary, and enters the North Sea. The length of the Thames is about 250 miles. At London Bridge the width of the river is about 290 yards: at Woolwich. 490 yards; at Gravesend pier, 800 yards; 3 miles below Gravesend, 1290 yards; at Nore Light, 6 miles; and at its mouth, between Whitstable and Foulness Point, about S miles below the Yore; the estuary is 1S miles across. The river is navigable for barges to Lechlade, up ward of 200 miles above its mouth, and it is con nected with several important canals, affording communication with the west and south coasts, and with the interior of the country. Its upper reaches and islands are much resorted to for their sylvan beauty, and pleasure steamers ply daily between Kingston, Henley, and Oxford.
Vessels of S00 tons can reach Saint Katharine's docks, London. those of 4000 tons can ascend to Blackwall, while by the dredging operations that have been carried out, vessels of 2-2 feet draught are now accommodated in the Albert and Victoria docks. The volume of traffic on the river was estimated in 1900 at 30,000,000 tons. The Thames is also the main source of the water supply of London, as much as 130.000,000 gal lons a day being withdrawn near Hampton for this purpose. The part of the river immediately below London Bridge is called the Pool, and the part between the bridge and Blackwall is called the Port. Two embankments have been formed. one on the north shore from Blackfriars Bridge to Westminster. and one on the south shore from Westminster Bridge to Vauxhall. Among the places on the Thames besides those above men tioned are Windsor. Eton, and Richmond. An extensive bibliography includes: The River Thames from Oxford to the Sea (London, 1859) ; Cassell, Royal River, illustrated (ib., 1885) ; and annual Reports of the Conservators of the River Thames (ib.). See LONDON.