River Tyburn: a day following London’s lost rivers on a walking tour

One fascinating part of London’s hydrology is its lost rivers: the streams which were covered up as the city expanded. After reading up on them, I was excited to join a London’s Lost Rivers walking tour to trace the path of the River Tyburn.

In this article, I talk a little about what lost rivers are and then tell you about the day I spent following the Tyburn. It was interesting to hear more about the watercourse and see the marks it’s left above ground for myself, with an expert guide to show us the way.

An introduction to the lost rivers of London

In the past, there used to be lots of streams flowing into the River Thames where it passes from London. However, as London grew over the past 500 years, the area has got increasingly urbanised. Rivers became sewers, as the increasing population tried to dispose of their sewage; and eventually they were covered, pulled into pipes, and disappeared from the landscape. These rivers, now subterranean, are in effect ‘lost’.

There are a dozen or so lost rivers that flow through London: the Effra, Fleet, Counter’s Creek and Westbourne are just a few examples. Sometimes these are visible on short stretches, even if only by looking at a bit of pipe; and others are completely covered over. Most met their demise in the 1700s and 1800s, during rapid expansion.

Of course, this isn’t the only city which covered its watercourses over. Manchester has the Corn Brook and River Tib; the Nor Loch in Edinburgh was once fed by a burn, now lost to history; the Rea and Hockley Brook once graced the surface of Birmingham. And I don’t doubt that all over the world, rivers in cities will have suffered the same fate.

Booking onto a walking tour

At work, I often look at maps of the lost rivers of London. I work in flood risk, and just because these rivers aren’t at the surface anymore doesn’t mean they don’t flow or flood. One of the resources I use is the London’s Lost Rivers website run by Paul Talling, who has a book and runs walking tours on the subject. His articles on each river are super useful when you’re trying to figure out whether a Site you’re working on is close to a subterranean river.

I saw that the author of the website runs walking tours, which trace the path of different lost rivers. My interest piqued, I signed up to the mail list to find out when the next batch of tickets went on sale, as all the walks were sold out. After missing the first sale, I got tickets in December for an all-day 7 mile walk the next April. (I bought my two tickets at 8 pm on the dot when they were released, and they were sold out within minutes; clearly this is a hot ticket!)

Why the River Tyburn? It follows an interesting route, passing through Hampstead, Mayfair and even beneath Buckingham Palace. I knew there would be a lot to see! Plus, I had just worked on a project for a Site nearby, so I’d been reading a lot about it at the time.

Arrival at Swiss Cottage

One Saturday in April, my dad and I hopped on the train from Crewe to Euston, and then on the overground, to meet the group at Swiss Cottage underground station at 10:30 am. We were almost late due to the train getting delayed, but it was fine in the end.

The group which gathered was a mix, some in hiking boots and trousers, and others in summery sandals and jeans. I was nervous the group would be overwhelmingly middle-aged and male, so I was excited to see a few others in their twenties, and a healthy mix of men and women.

Talking to a few others before we even set off, it became clear that there were a LOT of regulars; one guy told us he was on his second rotation through all the walks that Paul, who runs the tours, offers. (As he also runs tours to see lost music venues and neighbourhoods, we’re talking 30+ routes.) You know it’s going to be good when there are this many regulars, or at least that’s what I hoped!

We checked in with Paul Talling. Initial impressions were of an eccentric guy, with a leopard print shirt and a dry sense of humour. Once everyone else had been checked off the list, he gave an introductory talk, and then we began walking.

Exploring South Hampstead

The first part of the tour took us through South Hampstead. The aim was to trace the route of the River Tyburn above ground. So, off we went, following a mix of sewer plans and historical maps along its former path.

Paul, I’m sure, chose a route which, though faithful to the original path, also made sure we passed interesting landmarks. For example, an early stop took us to the home of Clara Butt, a singer at the turn of the 20th century. Paul played us a snippet of one of her songs whilst we looked at her former abode: a haunting nod to her.

Onward to Regent’s Park

After a walk through the lovely (and expensive) St John’s Wood, we entered Regent’s Park. There are lots of water features in the park, from Regent Canal to the lakes, but that’s not what we were looking for.

Instead, we focused on small fountain structures in the lake which may or may not connect to the River Tyburn. The boating lake at Regent’s Park was once fed by the Tyburn, although it has a tragic history: in 1867, forty ice skaters on the lake drowned after the ice broke.

Next, we left the park onto a Baker Street, which is known for being the home of Sherlock Holmes. I had never been on it myself so my tourist spirit was activated as we passed the Sherlock Holmes museum!

Rather than focusing on Sherlock, Paul had an affinity for Danger Mouse (a 1970s cartoon mouse who I’ll admit I had not heard of until that day). Playing the theme tune down the street garnered us a few looks from confused tourists…

Marylebone

Next we headed into Marylebone, via Oxford Street and Bond Street. Marylebone partially gets its name from the Tyburn – that’s where the ‘bone’ comes from – so you can see that the river helped shape the area.

If you look at a map of Marylebone, you’ll see that most of the area follows a strict grid, except for a few streets, e.g. South Moulton Lane and Avery Row. These streets cross diagonally, almost arching across the land surface. They once followed the Tyburn, for which we can blame their nonconformity; only little plaques at the start and end of the route tell passersby what once flowed past. Of note, we stopped at Gray’s Antique Market at the junction; the rumour is that the River Tyburn still runs through their basement…

For us, a little excitement was later had at Grosvenor Square, a little park a bit further along. Here, there were a lot of Porsches parked; until then I’m not sure I had ever seen so many. I don’t know what the gathering of posh cars was for, but there was a traffic warden booking them all; he must have been having a great day!

A royal river

Following Curzon Street, we eventually swooped south along Down Street towards Green Park. Down Street is home to a former underground station which was in operation between 1907 and 1932; it’s known for being where Churchill took shelter during the Blitz. If you have a bit (try, lot) of money going spare you can take a tour of it nowadays. I wouldn’t have recognised it as a station if I were on my own, but being told it, it made perfect sense, with the maroon arches matching a retro look of the older tube stations still in operation.

We crossed the road, into leafy Green Park and then to the outside Buckingham Palace. This is one of those places where you just can’t escape the tourists – there are always so many of them clustering at the gates in hopes of seeing what’s going on inside. But to me there’s a thrill about it, too; we’ve all been there after all. The River Tyburn flows in a sewer under Buckingham Palace, not that you’d ever know just by looking at it.

The tour continued through Mayfair, towards the outfall of the Tyburn at Pimlico. (Some people think that the Tyburn splits into two branches at Buckingham Palace, with the other going towards Westminster, but Paul was not of this opinion.) We stopped at a pub where, starving, my dad and I wolfed down our packed lunch on the pavement outside; the regulars as it turned out seemed to have gone for a big brunch beforehand, so we appeared to be the only ones with rumbling tummies!

Pimlico and outfall at the Thames

After the pub, we headed south through Pimlico. This was another area of London I’d never visited, but it was home to interesting stories, with Paul Talling having a particular affinity for the musical history of the area.

Eventually, we came to the River Thames near Vauxhall Bridge. The outfall, where the flows from the Tyburn enter the Thames, was just about visible. And of course there were great views of the Thames, which provides pretty cityscapes on the other side.

Time to head back home!

Would I recommend the tour?

I enjoyed following the path of the River Tyburn on one of the London’s Lost Rivers walking tours. There’s a lot of history in the area that I would never have discovered had I not been on the tour, and in places the lost rivers are not easy to trace; having Paul Talling’s knowledge of the area was invaluable.

That being said, I forgot how draining a day trip to London from the North can be. Three hours of travel each way plus a full day of walking is quite a lot. I’m not sure I can see myself taking another walking tour, just because of the distance. If I lived in London, though? For sure.

How to walk London’s lost rivers yourself

I took one of Paul Talling’s walking tours. You can find the details on the London’s Lost Rivers website. Getting tickets to the tours can be difficult, as they often sell out within days; to get them, I signed up to the mail list so that I knew when the tickets would be released.

The tour along the River Tyburn took around 6 hours and cost £22 each, beginning at Swiss Cottage tube station. I booked in December for an early April walk.

Want to walk it yourself? This article by Richard Gower is a great resource if you want to follow the route and keep an eye out for the different landmarks on the way. There’s also a Lost Rivers book, plus you can find different articles online detailing the route of each river.

Other interesting experiences

• Heading underground on an adventure day in North Wales with Go Below
• Taking a day trip to the Mekong Delta from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Swimming with bioluminescent plankton on Koh Rong Samloem, Cambodia
• Learning to dive in Amed, Bali: my experiences of the PADI Open Water course
• Making lanterns in Hoi An, Vietnam