s low considering its length and breadth: the Severn has a discharge almost twice as large on

average despite having a smaller drainage basin. In Scotland, the Tay achieves more than

double the Thames' average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller.
Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs. Its catchment area covers a
large part of south-eastern and a small part of western England; the river is fed by at least 50
named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands. With its waters varying from freshwater to
almost seawater, the Thames supports a variety of wildlife and has a number of adjoining Sites
of Special Scientific Interest, with the largest being in the North Kent Marshes and covering 5,289
hectares (20.4 sq mi).[2]

Contents

 1Etymology
 2Administration
 3Human activity
 4Physical and natural aspects
o 4.1Sea level
o 4.2Catchment area and discharge
 4.2.1The non-tidal section
 4.2.2The tidal section
o 4.3Islands
o 4.4Geological and topographic history
 4.4.1Ice age
 4.4.2Conversion of marshland
o 4.5Wildlife
 5Human history
o 5.1Roman Britain
o 5.2Middle Ages
o 5.3Early modern period
o 5.4Victorian era
o 5.520th century
o 5.621st century
 6The active river
o 6.1Transport and tourism
 6.1.1The tidal river
 6.1.2The upper river
 6.1.3Cable car
o 6.2Police and lifeboats
o 6.3Navigation
 6.3.1History of the management of the river
o 6.4The river as a boundary
o 6.5Crossings
 7Pollution
o 7.1Treated sewage
o 7.2Mercury levels
 8Sport
o 8.1Rowing
o 8.2Sailing
o 8.3Skiffing
o 8.4Punting
 o 8.5Kayaking and canoeing
o 8.6Swimming
o 8.7Meanders
 9The Thames in the arts
o 9.1Visual arts
o 9.2Literature
o 9.3Music
 10Major flood events
o 10.1London flood of 1928
o 10.2Thames Valley flood of 1947
o 10.3Canvey Island flood of 1953
 11See also
 12References
 13Further reading
 14External links

Etymology[edit]

A statue of Old Father Thames by Raffaelle Monti at St John's Lock, Lechlade

The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the
river, Tamesas (from *tamēssa),[3] recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern
Welsh Tafwys "Thames". The name may have meant "dark" and can be compared to
other cognates such as Russian темно (Proto-
Slavic *tĭmĭnŭ), Lithuanian tamsi "dark", Latvian tumsa "darkness", Sanskrit tamas and
Welsh tywyll "darkness" (Proto-Celtic *temeslos) and Middle Irish teimen "dark grey".[3] The origin
is shared by many other river names in Britain, such as the River Tamar at the border
of Devon and Cornwall, several rivers named Tame in the Midlands and North Yorkshire,
the Tavy on Dartmoor, the Team of the North East, the Teifi and Teme of Wales, the Teviot in
the Scottish Borders and a Thames tributary the Thame.
Kenneth H. Jackson has proposed that the name of the Thames is not Indo-European (and of
unknown meaning),[4] while Peter Kitson suggested that it is Indo-European but originated before
the Celts and has a name indicating "muddiness" from a root *tā-, 'melt'.[5]
Indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name 'Thames' is provided by a Roman potsherd found
at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit (Tamesubugus made