The Longford River is an English artificial waterway, a distributary that diverts water 12 miles (19 km) from the River Colne at Longford near Colnbrook to Bushy Park and Hampton Court Palace where it reaches the Thames on the reach above Teddington Lock. It was built for King Charles I in 1638/39 as a water supply for Hampton Court, and water features in Bushy Park were added in 1710. Its course has been diverted north of the A30 more than once as Heathrow Airport has expanded, and the water features in Bushy Park were restored and reopened to the public in 2009, after years of neglect.
Famous quotes containing the word river:
“Hard by the lilied Nile I saw
A duskish river dragon stretched along.
The brown habergeon of his limbs enamelled
With sanguine alamandines and rainy pearl:
And on his back there lay a young one sleeping,
No bigger than a mouse;”
—Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849)