How long is the River Thames? - River Thames Boat Project

Sunset view of the Varanasi Ghats on the Ganges river

Sunset View of Varanasi Ghats on the Ganges

When we think of world-famous rivers: The Amazon (3997 mi), The Nile (4132 mi), The Ganges (1569 mi), and the Mississippi river (2340mi) may spring to mind alongside the UK’s own River Thames. These rivers are famous not just for their impressive lengths, but the ecology that they support, the cultural traditions that take place along their banks, and how they have been immortalised in works of art, from paintings to literature.

Illustration of Ratty and Mole in a rowing boat on the river, a dragonfly overhead and green shrub in the background.

Kenneth Grahame’s much loved children’s novel The Wind in the Willows was inspired by Grahame’s recollections of his childhood spent in the countryside around the River Thames.

The River Thames is the shortest amongst these globally renowned riverways at 215 miles long, 191 miles of which are navigable.

In the UK, the River Thames takes the title of second longest river, the River Severn being 5 miles longer at 220 miles, and in third place the River Wye at 155 miles.

The source of the Thames is much debated, but a stone marker can be found just outside Kemble in the Cotswolds, which is said to mark a spring, often dry, from where the Thames begins its journey down to the North Sea.

The Thames marks the borders of nine English counties and is joined by approximately twenty major tributaries that still flow into the river as part of its route to the coast.

Teddington Lock, where we hold our School on the River education sessions, marks the dividing point of the tidal and non-tidal Thames. The water is brackish here, as river meets sea water.

The path of the river to the sea isn’t straight, as any Eastenders fan could tell you, it curves, with over 100 meanders, and even a gorge in the Chiltern Hills known as the ‘Goring Gap’.

An overhead view of the tidal River Thames meandering route through London to the Thames Estuary.

As part of our School on the River activities, children and young people learn about all of these fascinating facts about the River Thames, including creating their own ‘map’ of the river, tracing the meanders along the route to the sea.

Find out more about our educational work and how to book a session here:

https://thamesboatproject.org/educational-activities/