River Stort

Stort
River
The Stort above Harlow, Essex
Country	United Kingdom
Source	New Lake
- location	Near Langley, Essex, England
- elevation	130 m (427 ft)
- coordinates	52°00′10″N 0°04′06″E / 52.0027°N 0.0683°E / 52.0027; 0.0683
Mouth	River Lea
- location	Near Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire
- elevation	28 m (92 ft)
- coordinates	51°45′52″N 0°00′51″E / 51.7644°N 0.0141°E / 51.7644; 0.0141Coordinates: 51°45′52″N 0°00′51″E / 51.7644°N 0.0141°E / 51.7644; 0.0141
Length	38 km (24 mi)

The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (38 km) long and flows from just south of the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon. Unusually, the town of Bishop's Stortford does not derive its name from the River Stort, but the other way around. 16th-century cartographers Saxton & Camden named the river Stort, assuming the town of Stortford was named for its ford.

The river was originally a winding shallow book called the Stour. In the 17th century map makers decided to tidy things up and rename the river on the maps as the Stort to fit with the name of its principal town.

From Langley, the Stort flows in a generally southerly direction through the villages of Clavering and Manuden and the market town of Bishop's Stortford.

It then flows past Sawbridgeworth, before it changes direction and flows west past Harlow and Roydon. It finally empties into the Lea at Feildes Weir, Hoddesdon. This 14-mile (22-km) long section was canalised in the 18th century as the Stort Navigation.