Monument

Thames head

Inscription

The Conservators of the River Thames, 1857 -1974. This stone was placed here to mark the source of the River Thames.

The lettering in this granite stone was originally picked out, probably in gold or black, but now the only way to see that the lettering even exists is to catch it unawares at an angle.

Site: Thames head (1 memorial)

GL7, Tetbury Road, near Kemble, Tewksbury Mead

The finger-post directs: "Thames Path, Public Footpath" and, in the same direction, "Thames Barrier London, 184 miles, 294 km".

Go to the source of a river and, call us simple, but we'd expect to see a river. Nothing; not a droplet; not even a dampness in the ground; no-oo river. Follow the path and it's some time before you even see a dip in the land, and that gradually becomes more vegetated than the surrounding fields, and then it turns into something that looks like a dry river bed - we've walked on the bed of the River Thames. This gradually became damp but it was over a mile before it could be described as running water. This was in June and we were told that at other, wetter, times of the year the ground in front of the stone is very boggy. All to do with the level of the water table.

There is another site competing for the title "source of the Thames", at Seven Springs in Gloucestershire but, until we have visited that, we are backing Kemble.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Thames head

Subjects commemorated i

Conservators of the River Thames / Thames Conservancy

Came into being as a result of the Thames Conservancy Act,1857. Completed the...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Last V2 rocket in Kingston upon Thames

Last V2 rocket in Kingston upon Thames

KT2, Park Road, Corner of King's Road

The plaque says that 8 people were killed but has the names of only five: four women and one 7-year-old girl.

Civilian war dead | WW2
12 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Prisoner of War memorial - Camden

Prisoner of War memorial - Camden

NW1, Camden High Street

Designed by architect Chris Roche. The railway sleepers and track, symbolic of the Burma Railway, are placed in the form of a cross - the...

War served | WW2
3 subjects commemorated, 6 creators
Parish pump Tooting

Parish pump Tooting

SW17, Mitcham Road

The quirky and much-missed Faded London Blog had a post on this item. Borough photos has a 1906 photo showing this structure in front of ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Christ Church Shooters Hill - War Memorial

Christ Church Shooters Hill - War Memorial

SE18, Shooters Hill, Christ Church

{On the risers of three steps at the front of the cross:} Thanks be to God who gave us the victory. In proud and grateful memory of the o...

1 subject commemorated
Middlesex Guildhall war memorial

Middlesex Guildhall war memorial

SW1, Little George Street, Supreme Court

This is a classy plaque, very of its time. From Fanny Cornforth we learn that the text "death has...." is written by Henry Wilson and is...

War dead | WW1
13 subjects commemorated, 1 creator