Barrier and Boundary
Until sufficient crossings were established, the river provided a formidable barrier — in post-Roman Britain during the Dark Ages Belgic-Celtic tribal lands and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and subdivisions were defined by which side of the river they were on. When English counties were established every county bordering the Thames did not cross it. On the northern bank were the historic counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and Essex. On the southern bank were the counties of Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Kent. However the permanent crossings that have been built to date have changed the dynamics and made cross-river development and shared responsibilities more practicable. In 1965 on creating a new county of Greater London, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames incorporated areas that had been part of both Middlesex and Surrey and the Middlesex borough of Spelthorne became part of Surrey. Changes in 1974 moved some of the boundaries away from the river towards closer county headquarters. For example, much of the northwest of Berkshire including Abingdon and Wantage became part of Oxfordshire and a southern part of Buckinghamshire became part of Berkshire including Slough, Eton and Wraysbury. Despite these changes in the sports of rowing and skiffing the banks are still referred to by their traditional county names and in sports such as football and cricket historic counties' areas are sometimes used.
Read more about this topic: Bridges Across The River Thames
Famous quotes containing the words barrier and/or boundary:
“Clearly, some time ago makers and consumers of American junk food passed jointly through some kind of sensibility barrier in the endless quest for new taste sensations. Now they are a little like those desperate junkies who have tried every known drug and are finally reduced to mainlining toilet bowl cleanser in an effort to get still higher.”
—Bill Bryson (b. 1951)
“It appeared that he had once represented his tribe at Augusta, and also once at Washington, where he had met some Western chiefs. He had been consulted at Augusta, and gave advice, which he said was followed, respecting the eastern boundary of Maine, as determined by highlands and streams, at the time of the difficulties on that side. He was employed with the surveyors on the line. Also he called on Daniel Webster in Boston, at the time of his Bunker Hill oration.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)