The Thames Conservancy (formally the Conservators of the River Thames) was a body responsible for the management of that river in England. It was founded in 1857 to replace the jurisdiction of the City of London up to Staines. Nine years later it took on the whole river from Cricklade in Wiltshire to the sea at Yantlet Creek on the Isle of Grain. Its territory was reduced when the Tideway (upper and lower estuary) was transferred to the Port of London Authority in 1909.
In 1974 the conservancy was taken into the Thames Water Authority, later to devolve to the Environment Agency in almost all respects.
History
Background
The stretch of river between the town of Staines, just to the west of London, and Yantlet Creek had been claimed by the City of London since 1197 under a charter of Richard the Lionheart. The jurisdiction was marked by the London Stones. In 1771 the Thames Navigation Commission was established from a body created twenty years earlier to handle navigation on the river. Although the commissioners were active in establishing locks and weirs above Staines, they did not interfere with the jurisdiction of the City of London.
The City of London Corporation built a series of locks from Teddington to Penton Hook at the beginning of the nineteenth century. They also used material from the demolished Old London Bridge to support the embankments between Sunbury and Shepperton.
However trouble arose around 1840 when the government proposed building the Victoria Embankment and the Crown claimed title to the river bed. The dispute simmered on for 17 years.
Meanwhile, as a result of competition from the railways, the volume of traffic on the river had been drastically reduced. Income from tolls fell from £16,000 in 1839 to less than £8,000 in 1849, while maintenance charges for 1850 were estimated at nearly £7,000. The City's unwillingness to pay for necessary expenditure led to complaints. By the Thames Conservancy Act 1857, the Crown reclaimed its rights and transferred them to the new body.
First conservancy (1857) The City of London handed its inventory to the Thames Conservancy in October 1857. In June 1857 the first stone of a new lock at Teddington had been laid at the present position, being the central of the three locks. The conservancy opened it in 1858 together with the narrow skiff lock, (known as "the coffin"). and the conservancy soon imposed regulations. In 1858 a toll of 15 shillings was imposed on every steam vessel passing Teddington Lock, and a speed limit set to five miles per hour. This was amended to 5 mph with the stream and 4 mph against it. Netting from Richmond to Staines was prohibited forever. The new authority reaffirmed the rights of anglers against interference from landowners and received a notice from the water bailiff drawing attention to the "improper practice of letting boats for hire to inexperienced persons". At this time the management of the bulk of the upstream river was the responsibility of the Thames Navigation Commissioners, but this changed in 1866.
Second conservancy (1866)
In 1866 it was considered expedient to put the navigation of the whole of the river under one management It was said that the Thames Commissioners were too numerous, the locks and weirs on the River Thames were in a bad condition and income was insufficient to pay for maintenance. It was believed that under single management with the upper river maintained properly and with lower tolls overall the traffic would increase. On 6 August 1866, the Thames Navigation Act 1866 allowed the Thames Conservancy to take over management of the river from Cricklade to Yantlet Creek, a distance of 177 miles (285 km).