Walthamstow Marshes
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | |
Boardwalk across an environmental protection area
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| Area of Search | Greater London |
|---|---|
| Grid reference | TQ352875 |
| Interest | Biological |
| Area | 36.7 hectares |
| Notification | 1985 |
| Location map | Magic Map |
Walthamstow Marshes, is a 36.7 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It was once an area of lammas land — common land used for growing crops and grazing cattle.
In 1909, the aero-designer Alliott Verdon Roe made the first all-British powered flight across the marsh in a Roe I Triplane (his earlier Roe I Biplane had been fitted with a French motorcycle engine). He went on to found the Avro Company, with his brother, in Manchester. A blue plaque records his achievement, on the railway arch in which he had his workshop.
The River Lea forms the boundary with the London Borough of Hackney, and the marshes lie within the Lee Valley Park. South of the Walthamstow Marshes lie the Leyton Marshes, and to the north the remains of Tottenham Marshes, parts of which are now the Banbury Reservoir. North of Coppermill Lane, are the linked set of Lockwood Reservoir, High Maynard Reservoir, Low Maynard Reservoir, Walthamstow Reservoirs, East Warwick Reservoir and West Warwick Reservoirs. The 90.7 acres (36.7 ha) area of Walthamstow Marshes south of these escaped both development and use for gravel excavation, remaining a relatively untouched refuge for wildlife, crossed only by the railway lines in 1840 and 1870.
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