City Mill River

City Mill River leaves the old channel of the River Lea at its northern end, and flows in a south-easterly direction, originally to City Mill. Town plans from 1895 and 1923 both indicate that it was used for the production of chemicals. The mill straddled the channel, and a bypass stream flowed to the west of the present course, to meet the Waterworks River below the mill. The discharge from the mill was into a large pool, which also formed a part of the Waterworks River. By the late 1920s, most of the Bow Back Rivers including the City Mill River were in serious decay, and the Lee Conservancy Board, jointly with West Ham Corporation, obtained a government grant as part of an unemployment…