London was founded at the confluence of the Thames and several tributaries, most of which have been buried underground as the city expanded. The Fleet, the Walbrook, the Effra, the Tyburn, the Westbourne — all flow beneath London’s streets, largely forgotten but not entirely gone.
The River Fleet
The Fleet is the largest of London’s lost rivers, rising on Hampstead Heath in two branches and flowing south to the Thames at Blackfriars. In the medieval period it was navigable by boat as far north as Holborn. Bazalgette’s sewer system culverted it in stages between 1845 and 1875. It still flows — you can hear it in some basements near Farringdon Street.
The Westbourne and the Serpentine
The Westbourne flows from Hampstead through Hyde Park, where it was dammed in 1730 to create the Serpentine lake. It then continues underground through Chelsea to the Thames at Chelsea Bridge — at one point crossing over the District and Circle line at Sloane Square station inside a large iron pipe visible from the platform.
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