River Thame

Thame
River
River Thame south of Dorchester (wider than usual because of flood waters)
Country	England
Counties	Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire
Towns	Aylesbury, Dorchester
Source
- location	Vale of Aylesbury
Mouth	River Thames
- location	Dorchester
Length	65 km (40 mi)
Discharge	for Wheatley
- average	3.90 m³/s (138 cu ft/s)
- max	53.1 m³/s (1,875 cu ft/s) 4 February 1990
- min	0.60 m³/s (21 cu ft/s) 14 September 1990
Rivers Thame (cyan) and Thames (blue) in south-east England

The River Thame (pronounced as "tame") is a river in southern England. It is now considered a tributary of the larger and better-known River Thames and should not be confused with it by the similarity of names.

The general course of the River Thame is north-east to south-west and the distance from its source to the River Thames is about 40 miles (65km). It flows through the English counties of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

The River Thame's source is several small streams which rise in the Vale of Aylesbury on the north side of the Chiltern Hills. These streams converge north-east of Aylesbury, the county town of Buckinghamshire. Aylesbury played an important role in the English Civil War when John Hampden (the town's Member of Parliament) defended Aylesbury at the Battle of Holman's Bridge, which crosses the Thame to the north of Aylesbury, in 1642.

The vale streams converge very close to the new village of Watermead. After leaving Watermead, the River Thame flows through farmland passing the small villages of Nether Winchendon and Chearsley before reaching the market town of Thame with which it shares its name. Thame is about 15 miles (24 km) east of Oxford and grew from an Anglo-Saxon settlement beside the river. In Anglo-Saxon times, Thame was in the Diocese of Dorchester.

From the town of Thame, the River Thame swings southward and after passing the villages of Great Milton and Stadhampton, its valley widens out. In this area in 1642 and 1643, the river acted as an important line of defence for Royalist Oxford. The bridges at Wheatley, Cuddesdon Mill and Chiselhampton were key crossing points, with Chiselhampton bridge playing a critical part in Prince Rupert's movements before and after the Battle of Chalgrove Field.^[1]

The River Thame then reaches the small town of Dorchester, Oxfordshire (not to be confused with Dorchester, Dorset). There was a Romano-British settlement here and the town itself is of Anglo-Saxon origin. The Saxon cathedral in Dorchester was later superseded by Dorchester Abbey, which is preserved.

A mile south of Dorchester, the River Thame flows into the River Thames on the reach above Benson Lock. Correctly, the Thames is named the River Isis until this point, and only after the confluence is the river named the Thames, a name derived from the contraction of the names of the 2 rivers - "Thame-Isis" becoming the Latin "Tamesis", and thence the English version.^{[citation needed]} Current Ordnance Survey maps label the Thames as "River Thames or Isis" until Dorchester.

See also

• List of rivers of England
• River Tame

References

v • d • e Rivers and Watercourses of Buckinghamshire Alder Bourne • Bearbrook • Chess • Chicheley Brook • Claydon Brook • Colne • Colne Brook • Cuttle Brook • Dad Brook • Gade • Great Ouse • Jubilee • Lyde • Misbourne • Ouzel • Padbury Brook • Ray • Thame • Thames • Thistle Brook • Tove • Whistle Brook • Wye

Coordinates: 51°38′N 1°09′W / 51.633°N 1.15°W / 51.633; -1.15