London's Lesser Known Rivers - Beverley Brook

Beverley Brook is  located in south-west London. It rises at Cuddington Recreation Park in Worcester Park, flows through Motspur Park, New Malden, Wimbledon Common, Richmond Park and Barnes. It then joins the River Thames near Putney Bridge at Barn Elms. Barn
Elms is the proposed venue  as a main drive shaft site for lowering in drilling equipment to create a new 21-mile Thames Tunnel "super sewer"


Beverley Brook is recorded as ‘Beferithi’ in 693. The name is derived from the former presence in the river of the Beaver  a species extinct in Britain since the sixteenth century - Beverley = Beaver's Ley - a place where beavers live. For many years in the twentieth century it was fed by poorly treated sewage from a sewerage works in Green Lane, Worcester Park. Since the introduction of improved treatment methods in 1998 the range of wildlife species in the river has steadily increased.

Beverley Brook is on the Environment Agency's watch list of rivers susceptible to flooding.In 2007  the Brook flooded its banks, damaging homes  in the Worcester Park area.