Crossings of The River Thames - Barrier and Boundary

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.