Longford River

The Longford River is an artificial waterway, a distributary designed to embellish a park, that diverts water 12 miles from the River Colne at Longford near Colnbrook in England, to Bushy Park and Hampton Court Palace. Its main outlet is to the reach above Molesey Lock with lesser pond outlet channels to that above Teddington Lock . The waterway was built for King Charles I in 1638/39 as a water supply for Hampton Court. Water features in Bushy Park were added in 1710. North of the A30, its course has been diverted more than once as London Heathrow Airport has grown. Its cascades, grassed banks and fountains in Bushy Park were restored and reopened to the public in 2009 to close to their original state.

In its northern course, it runs side by side with its older "twin", the Duke of Northumberland's River. Both have been re-dug near to their older lines to accommodate Heathrow Airport: most recently as part of the Twin Rivers Diversion Scheme for the taxiways and roads required by Terminal 5. The rivers emerge to flow along the Airport's southern perimeter, separating at 'Two Bridges' just east of Terminal 4; the original diversion dating to the 1940s.

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