London's Lost Rivers - Book and Walking Tours by Paul Talling
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  • London's Lost Rivers
    • River Peck
    • River Effra
    • River Moselle
    • The Black Ditch
    • Bollo Brook
    • The Cock & Pye Ditch
    • Counter's Creek
    • Earl's Sluice
    • Falcon Brook
    • Carbuncle Ditch
    • River Fleet
    • River Neckinger
    • Parr's Ditch
    • Hackney Brook
    • Pudding Mill River
    • Rotherhithe Mill Streams
    • Stamford Brook
    • River Tyburn
    • Tyburn Brook
    • River Walbrook
    • Muswell Stream
    • River Westbourne
  • London's Lost Canals
    • City Canal
    • Croydon Canal
    • Cumberland Arm
    • Grand Surrey Canal
    • Grosvenor Canal
    • Kensington Canal
    • Romford Canal
    • Royal Arsenal Canal
    • The Royal Gunpowder Mills Canals
  • Author's Guided Walks
    • River Fleet Walk
    • River Westbourne Walk
    • River Tyburn Walk
    • Lost Rivers of Hampstead Walk
    • River Moselle (aka Moselle Brook) walk
    • Battersea's Lost Rivers
    • Lost Docks of Wapping Walk
    • Grand Surrey Canal Walk
    • Woolwich - Dockyard & Royal Arsenal Canal Walk
    • Isle of Dogs Canal and Millwall Docks Walk
    • Derelict Limehouse & Poplar Walk
    • Derelict Silvertown walk
    • River Peck/Earl's Sluice
    • Bow Creek
    • River Neckinger walk
    • Croydon Canal Walk
    • Hammersmith Walk
    • East Finchley to Gospel Oak
    • Whitechapel and Bethnal Green walk
    • Minories to Poplar
    • Bridges of London
  • London's Lesser Known Rivers
    • Beverley Brook
    • Bow Backs Rivers
    • River Brent
    • River Ching
    • River Crane
    • River Cray
    • River Darent
    • Dead River
    • Dollis Brook
    • Duke of Northumberland's River
    • River Ember
    • Hogsmill River
    • River Lea
    • River Mole
    • The New River
    • River Pool
    • River Ravensbourne
    • River Roding
    • The Silk Stream
    • River Wandle
    • Yeading Brook
  • Buy The Book Here
    • Sample Chapter
    • Reviews
  • Contact/Mailing List
  • Advertising on London's Lost Rivers
  • Privacy Policy/Cookies
  • London's Lost Music Venues
  • Home
  • London's Lost Rivers
    • River Peck
    • River Effra
    • River Moselle
    • The Black Ditch
    • Bollo Brook
    • The Cock & Pye Ditch
    • Counter's Creek
    • Earl's Sluice
    • Falcon Brook
    • Carbuncle Ditch
    • River Fleet
    • River Neckinger
    • Parr's Ditch
    • Hackney Brook
    • Pudding Mill River
    • Rotherhithe Mill Streams
    • Stamford Brook
    • River Tyburn
    • Tyburn Brook
    • River Walbrook
    • Muswell Stream
    • River Westbourne
  • London's Lost Canals
    • City Canal
    • Croydon Canal
    • Cumberland Arm
    • Grand Surrey Canal
    • Grosvenor Canal
    • Kensington Canal
    • Romford Canal
    • Royal Arsenal Canal
    • The Royal Gunpowder Mills Canals
  • Author's Guided Walks
    • River Fleet Walk
    • River Westbourne Walk
    • River Tyburn Walk
    • Lost Rivers of Hampstead Walk
    • River Moselle (aka Moselle Brook) walk
    • Battersea's Lost Rivers
    • Lost Docks of Wapping Walk
    • Grand Surrey Canal Walk
    • Woolwich - Dockyard & Royal Arsenal Canal Walk
    • Isle of Dogs Canal and Millwall Docks Walk
    • Derelict Limehouse & Poplar Walk
    • Derelict Silvertown walk
    • River Peck/Earl's Sluice
    • Bow Creek
    • River Neckinger walk
    • Croydon Canal Walk
    • Hammersmith Walk
    • East Finchley to Gospel Oak
    • Whitechapel and Bethnal Green walk
    • Minories to Poplar
    • Bridges of London
  • London's Lesser Known Rivers
    • Beverley Brook
    • Bow Backs Rivers
    • River Brent
    • River Ching
    • River Crane
    • River Cray
    • River Darent
    • Dead River
    • Dollis Brook
    • Duke of Northumberland's River
    • River Ember
    • Hogsmill River
    • River Lea
    • River Mole
    • The New River
    • River Pool
    • River Ravensbourne
    • River Roding
    • The Silk Stream
    • River Wandle
    • Yeading Brook
  • Buy The Book Here
    • Sample Chapter
    • Reviews
  • Contact/Mailing List
  • Advertising on London's Lost Rivers
  • Privacy Policy/Cookies
  • London's Lost Music Venues
London's Lost Rivers - Book and Walking Tours by Paul Talling
​Parr’s Ditch

​London's Lost Rivers - Parr’s Ditch (aka Black Bull Ditch) 

The U shaped Parrs Ditch begins in the Brook Green vicinity of Hammersmith
The clue is in the name as with alot of London's waterways
This pathway lined by ancient trees marks the course of Parr's Ditch in Brook Green, Hammersmith
This pathway lined by ancient trees marks the course of Parr's Ditch in Brook Green
Parr's Ditch. Warnings along the Thames in Hammersmith of  sewer outfalls
Warnings along the Thames in Hammersmith of sewer outfalls
​The U shaped Parrs Ditch begins in the Brook Green vicinity of Hammersmith before curving southwards crossing the Hammersmith Road and the Talgarth Road and then curving west across the Fulham Palace Rd and joins the Thames adjacent to the Riverside Studios, near Hammersmith Bridge. A few archive maps show a watercourse from the Stamford Brook near Ravenscourt Park, running east to join Parrs Ditch at Brook Green. Victorian sewerage “stink pipes” certainly mark this route.

There appear to be no explanation for why the ditch was known as Parrs Ditch.  The English definition of parr is a young salmon though there are no records of fish in the ditch which was more than likely an open sewer. The ditch was also named after the Black Bull Inn where the Ditch ran beside. The location of this Inn was where the old house of the High Master of St Pauls School now stands beside the Hammersmith Road (built as part of a school which moved from near St Paul’s Cathedral to West London in 1884). 

Parrs Ditch, believed to be man made, follows the historic boundary between Hammersmith and Fulham. At the outfall of the Ditch onto the Thames there is an old boundary marker on the river wall.  The area has been occupied for over 5000 years and excavations at this location have revealed Neolithic flint tools and pottery, Iron Age pottery and evidence of Roman settlements.
​
The ditch became polluted with waste from nearby brick fields, and was eventually covered, and finally converted to a sewer in 1876.
Parrs Ditch, believed to be man made, follows the historic boundary between Hammersmith and Fulham. At the outfall of the Ditch onto the Thames there is an old boundary marker on the river wall.
Parrs Ditch follows the historic boundary between Hammersmith and Fulham. At the outfall of the Ditch onto the Thames there is an old boundary marker on the river wall.
Parrs Ditch follows the historic boundary between Hammersmith and Fulham. At an old outfall of the Ditch onto the Thames there is an old boundary marker on the river wall. Pics taken 2011. This wall has since been demolished
Parrs Ditch follows the historic boundary between Hammersmith and Fulham. At the outfall of the Ditch onto the Thames there is an old boundary marker on the river wall.
London's Lost Rivers by Paul Talling. All images are copyright.