London's Lost Rivers - Book and Walking Tours by Paul Talling
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  • London's Lost Rivers
    • The Black Ditch
    • Bollo Brook
    • Carbuncle Ditch
    • The Cock & Pye Ditch
    • Counter's Creek
    • Earl's Sluice
    • River Effra
    • Falcon Brook
    • River Fleet
    • Hackney Brook
    • River Moselle
    • Muswell Stream
    • River Neckinger
    • Parr's Ditch
    • River Peck
    • Pudding Mill River
    • Rotherhithe Mill Streams
    • Stamford Brook
    • River Tyburn
    • Tyburn Brook
    • River Walbrook
    • 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 Tyburn Walk
    • River Westbourne Walk
    • Lost Rivers of Hampstead Walk
    • 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
  • Buy The Book Here
    • Sample Chapter
    • Reviews
  • 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
  • Contact/Mailing List
  • Advertising on London's Lost Rivers
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  • London's Lost Music Venues
  • Home
  • London's Lost Rivers
    • The Black Ditch
    • Bollo Brook
    • Carbuncle Ditch
    • The Cock & Pye Ditch
    • Counter's Creek
    • Earl's Sluice
    • River Effra
    • Falcon Brook
    • River Fleet
    • Hackney Brook
    • River Moselle
    • Muswell Stream
    • River Neckinger
    • Parr's Ditch
    • River Peck
    • Pudding Mill River
    • Rotherhithe Mill Streams
    • Stamford Brook
    • River Tyburn
    • Tyburn Brook
    • River Walbrook
    • 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 Tyburn Walk
    • River Westbourne Walk
    • Lost Rivers of Hampstead Walk
    • 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
  • Buy The Book Here
    • Sample Chapter
    • Reviews
  • 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
  • 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

​London's Lesser Known Rivers - River Ember 

Picture of Thames tributary River Ember below the railway bridge and Hampton Court Way (A309) bridge
River Ember below the railway bridge and Hampton Court Way (A309) bridge
Named from the manor of Ember or Imber, by which it flowed the Ember is a distributary of the River Mole which splits into two at the Island Barn reservoir to the South of East and West Molesey. The larger portion becomes the Ember and flows in an easterly and then northerly direction around the reservoir (the Mole flows found the opposite side of the reservoir). After the reservoir the two rivers flow side by side for half a mile through East Molesey before merging just before Hampton Court Way (near the station) and just after that it joins the River Thames beside Cigarette Island Park  opposite Hampton Court Palace. The name derives from a houseboat called Cigarette which used to be moored here and the Island was created by the original course of the Mole (pre-1930's) when it used to enter the Thames where Hampton Court Bridge now stands. Now, no longer a true island, the name is applied to the five acres of public open space behind the station.

The total length of the Ember is roughly  2 miles

According to Wikipedia: The River Mole once flowed into the River Thames separately further upstream at a point where the present Hampton Court Bridge now crosses the river. However, during the early 1930s, when Hampton Court Way and the bridge were built, the River Mole was redirected to flow into the River Ember and both rivers now enter the Thames in a single widened and straightened channel once occupied only by the River Ember. There have been further alterations to the courses of these two rivers in a major flood prevention scheme since serious flooding in the area in 1947 and 1968.

Ember Mill stood on an island in the Ember near Hampton Court Way. This can be reached from a footbridge at the end of Orchard Road. The mill was demolished in around 1837 and the sluices and waterfalls on either side are all that remain to indicate the site. The mill was originally a corn mill but was later used for manufacturing brass and iron wire. This part of the Ember is by-passed by the new channel of the flood prevention scheme, but a small flow runs into the old course to keep it looking as it used to. 
London's Lost Rivers by Paul Talling. All images are copyright.