Coppermill Stream

Originally a minor tributary of the River Lea, the approximately 2-mile (3.2 km) long stream is now used as an aqueduct to transport water from the reservoirs in the Lea Valley to Coppermills Water Treatment Works.

It then flows parallel with Coppermill Lane and skirts the northern edge of Walthamstow Marshes, passing under the Lea Valley lines and merging with the River Lee Navigation at the Lee Valley Marina close opposite Springfield Park.

The stream is named after the Coppermill, a watermill which was purchased by the British Copper Company in 1808.

The mill was purchased from the British Copper Company by the East London Waterworks Company in the late 1850s and was modified to drive a water pump to assist in the building of reservoirs on the nearby marshland.

The clean flowing stream is home to many species of coarse fish including the barbel.