The Lee Navigation is named by acts of Parliament and is so marked on Ordnance Survey maps.

It has a long association with navigation, as the marshes of Walthamstow have produced a dugout canoe from the Bronze Age and parts of a Saxon barge.

[1] In more peaceful times, it became important for the transport of grain from Hertfordshire, but navigation of its southernmost tidal reaches of Bow Creek were difficult due to its tortuous meanders.

6. c. 9), and both authorised local landowners to act as commissioners, who could make improvements to the river including scouring or dredging, and could recoup the cost of the work by levying tolls.

[6] The remainder of the control of levels was carried out by "staunches" or "turnpikes", consisting of a single vertically lifting gate in a weir, through which boats were pulled against the current.

The increased extraction of water had a detrimental effect on milling and navigation, and by the early 1700s it had become clear that major work would be needed to produce a solution.

[7] A petition was presented to Parliament resulting in the River Lee Navigation Act 1738 (12 Geo.

[8] Smeaton made a survey of the river and produced a report in 1766, in which he recorded that there were 18 staunches at the time, with a lock at Ware and tidal gates at Bow.

These recommendations formed the basis for a parliamentary bill, which was opposed by the owners of the Shoreditch to Enfield turnpike road, the West Ham waterworks and the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills, who were all concerned that their rights would be affected.

Yeoman was also responsible for setting out towing paths, designing 35 roving bridges, and construction of lock gates.

Mr Dingley, owner of the wharf and a trustee, was awarded part of the contract, and the cut was expected to open on 2 July 1770, but some brickwork failed and had to be repaired.

A bridge collapsed in December, but traffic soon developed, and the cut had to be widened to allow barges to pass one another along its entire length.

[10] The trustees decided to finance the work with a loan, and advertisements appeared in the London Gazette and other newspapers, indicating that they wished to raise £35,000.

[12] The Lee Navigation bought the Stort Navigation in 1911,[5] and instituted further improvements, including reconstruction of the locks between Enfield and Hertford, the width being increased from 13 to 16 feet (4.0 to 4.9 m): by the 1930s, 130-ton barges could reach Enfield, and 100-ton barges to Ware and Hertford.

By 1980 commercial traffic extended no higher than the Enfield Rolling Mills at Brimsdown, with just one tug, the Vassal, regularly at work on the river.

Powered by a 120 hp Gardner diesel engine, she would typically tow a train of two lighters loaded with timber from Bow to Hahn's Wharf at Edmonton.

5. c. 44), the Lee Conservancy area was treated as a special case, with details laid out in section 80 of that act.

These functions are now managed by the Canal and River Trust, a charitable organisation that took over the role of British Waterways from 2 July 2012.

The Lee Conservancy was no longer a special case, and became part of the Thames Water Authority.