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Thames River Facts & Worksheets

The Thames River in Southern England is 215 miles long, and this navigable river is an iconic and historical feature of the country's capital, London.

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Southern England is home to the Thames River. It is the longest river in England, stretching over 215 miles. In addition to London, the river also passes through the towns of Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames, and Windsor in the United Kingdom. In the country’s capital, London, the Thames is navigable to ships and cruises.

See the fact file below for more information on the River Thames or alternatively, you can download our 22-page River Thames worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

INTERESTING FACTS

  • There are over 125 different fish species in the Thames, and a bottlenose whale was even seen there in 2006.
  • Over 200 bridges span the River Thames, ranging in size from modest wooden footbridges in the Upper Thames Valley to the magnificent Tower Bridge.
  • Between 1309 and 1814, the river became a winter wonderland due to it freezing during winters. An elephant was even once led across the Thames River under the Blackfriars bridge.

ETYMOLOGY

  • Tamesis was initially termed as ‘Tems’ by the Britons before the arrival of the Romans, but the Romans Latinized and renamed it ‘Tamesis.’ 
  • Ever since the 1600s, the river has been called ‘Thames’ which means ‘dark’ or ‘dark water’ relating to the brackish water flowing in the river. 
  • However, from the Victorian era, the Thames River running through Oxford is still commonly referred to as the ‘Isis.’

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

  • 140 miles from its source to the tidal waters boundary, the Thames is 205 miles long.
  • Spring tides raise the Thames at London Bridge by 22 feet (7 meters), while neap tides raise it by 18 feet (5.5 meters).
  • The basin of the Thames River encompasses an area of approximately 5,500 square miles. Its basin receives an average of 27 inches of rain per year.
  • It is estimated that groundwater provides 40% of the overall catchment area’s water supply while the Thames River is used for 2/3 of London’s potable water.

HISTORY

  • Winters on the Thames in the 17th and 18th centuries, a period known as “the Little Ice Age,” were often frosty during this time. It was because of this that the first “Frost Fair” was held in 1607, when a tent city was erected on the riverbank with a bevy of bizarre attractions, including ice bowling. In 1814, the river froze over for the last time.
  • The Thames became one of the world’s busiest waterways by the end of the 17th century, when London became the capital of the British Empire. 
  • Shipbuilding developed along the banks of the Thames as London’s trade and the rest of the globe rapidly rose. London flourished as a result of the construction of new wharves that could accommodate their goods. According to a survey in 1598, almost forty thousand men made their living along or in the vicinity of the river.
  • In the middle of the 17th century, the river was so packed with cargo waiting to unload – in many cases for as long as several weeks – that it was nearly feasible to walk from shore to shore across the craft. This was the situation at the time. In 1661, construction began on the first dock below Tower Bridge in an effort to lessen the burden of this responsibility. Over the course of the subsequent two hundred years, they increased in both quantity and size in order to accommodate the continuously growing commercial fleet.
  • The Princess Alice, a crowded pleasure boat, collided with the Bywell Castle on the Thames on September 3, 1878, killing approximately 640 people, making it one of England’s deadliest river catastrophes at the time.
  • Furthermore, the Thames river, which was severely polluted at the time, also served as the primary supply of drinking water for the people of London. As a direct result of this, there was an outbreak of cholera in the year 1832 that lasted for a total of 22 years. 35,000 people lost their lives due to the outbreak.
  • Following this, was the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858; it was so terrible that the House of Commons at Westminster had to stop session because of the pollution in the Thames. As a result of Joseph Bazalgette’s efforts, sewers were built on the north and south river banks to store the city’s sewage. This was the start of restoring the river back to its healthier state without so much pollution.
  • The river’s importance has declined as a result of the development of rail and road transportation, as well as the collapse of the British Empire following 1914. The “Port of London” has relocated to Tilbury because London is no longer used much as a port. Life has returned to the Thames, which was once a cesspool of pollution.

FLOOD CONTROL

  • The Thames Barrier was opened in the early 1980s to prevent flooding. Many times a year, it is utilized to prevent flooding in low-lying neighborhoods of London upstream of the river.
  • The Thames Barrier is a one-of-a-kind structure on the River Thames at Woolwich Reach in East London that keeps floodwaters from getting in. It is 520 meters wide and keeps storm surges and heavy rain from flooding London.
  • In 1953, there was a big flood in the Thames Estuary that killed 307 people and caused an estimated £50 million ($5 billion in today’s money) in damage.
  • This caused a major change in how flood defenses were built to protect London.
  • After a report by Sir Herman Bondi in 1966, it was decided that the best thing to do was to raise the banks and build a flood barrier across the Thames with gates that could be moved.
  • It took eight years and $535 million (£1.6 billion in today’s money) to build the structure. It was finished and ready for use in 1982.
  • The barrier is made up of 10 separate steel gates that can be moved. Each gate is 20 meters tall, and the whole thing is 520 meters long.
  • Each of the main gates is a hollow steel-plate structure that stands more than 20 meters tall and weighs about 3,700 tons. Together, they can hold more than 9,000 tons of water.
  • When the barrier is shut, a solid steel wall is made between the upper part of the river and the sea. This keeps water from flowing upstream toward the capital.
  • When the water level upstream of the barrier is the same as the water level downstream, the barrier can be opened again. When the gates aren’t in use, they are hidden in curved, recessed concrete cills in the riverbed. This lets boats pass through.

TOURISM

  • In the summer, passenger services run along the entire non-tidal river from Oxford to Teddington. It takes four days and several boat changes to make the whole trip.
  • Since the 2012 Summer Olympics, the London Cable Car has been running from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Docks over the River Thames.

FAMOUS BRIDGES

The Tower Bridge

  • This architectural masterpiece was built between 1886 and 1894. It is probably the most well-known bridge over the River Thames and is easy to spot. It is a combination of a bascule bridge and a suspension bridge, and it has become one of London’s most famous landmarks.

The London Bridge

  • The current bridge opened to traffic in 1973.   The famous nursery rhyme “London Bridge is falling down” and the many times this bridge is mentioned in art and literature show how important it is to London’s history and culture. The current London Bridge is a box-girder bridge made of prestressed concrete that is 269 meters long and 32 meters wide.

Millennium Bridge

  • The Millennium Bridge is a steel suspension bridge for people that connects Bankside to the City of London. It first opened in 2000. On the first day the bridge was open to the public, people walking across it felt an unexpected swaying. This led Londoners to call it the “Wobbly Bridge.”
  • After two years of limited access and changes, the motion was taken away and the bridge was reopened in 2002. The bridge is 325 meters long, but it is only 4 meters wide.

The Blackfriars Bridge

  • The first bridge to be called Blackfriars opened in 1769. The current bridge, which is 281 meters long and 32 meters wide, was built in October 1869. Joseph Cubbit made this bridge, and Queen Victoria opened it in 1869. It replaced an older stone building and has stone pillars that look like pulpits and iron arches in between. In honor of the Dominican monastery that gave Blackfriars its name in the 1300s, these pillars were made to look like the inside of a church.

Westminster Bridge

  • When it was finished in 1750, it was the second bridge to cross the Thames in Central London. The next crossing was at Putney, which opened in 1729 and was about a mile away. The people who made their living by taking people across the river didn’t like the new bridge. The bridge had semi-octagonal turrets at regular intervals to give pedestrians shade.

The Chelsea Bridge

  • Thomas Page made the first Chelsea bridge, which opened in 1858. It was a suspension bridge, like the one we have now. At the time, it was said to be the most beautiful of the bridges that crossed the Thames.

Thames River Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about the Thames River across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching about the Thames River in Southern England. It is 215 miles long, and the navigable river is an iconic and historical feature of the country’s capital, London.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Thames River Facts
  2. Building Bridges
  3. Math and Learn
  4. What’s My Purpose?
  5. Fill in the Blanks
  6. Testing Familiarity
  7. Get To Know It
  8. Tragic Tragedy
  9. Thames’ Timeline
  10. Awareness Poster
  11. Control Me

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Thames River dirty?

Despite its color, the Thames River is actually considered one of the cleanest rivers running through a city. This has not always been the case – in industrial times, raw sewage almost forced Parliament to move because of the smell. It was also responsible for many cholera outbreaks in London.

What is the Thames River famous for?

There are many reasons, but one of them is for being home to some world-famous landmarks, such as the London Eye, Tower Bridge, and London Bridge.

Can you swim in the Thames River?

There are parts of the river in the upper reaches that are considered safe to swim. Lower down, it’s not only very busy with water traffic, but the large tidal changes make it dangerous.

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Link will appear as Thames River Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, August 4, 2022

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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