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Walthamstow Marshes, Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, London E10 7QL
Never sleeps, open 24/7
As one of the last remaining floodplain marshlands in London, Walthamstow Marshes is a precious, urban refuge for over 400 plant and animal species.
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03000 030 610
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Walthamstow Marsh is an area of wetland bordering the River Lea and nestled between Hackney and Waltham Forest. It’s one of the last remaining examples of London’s once vast and widespread floodplain grasslands. From Saxon times onwards, well into the 20th century the marsh was used as “Lammas Land”, a place for local people to cut hay and graze their livestock.
In 1909, the pioneer, Sir Edwin Alliott Verdon Roe became the first Englishman to fly an all-British made triplane (The Yellow Terror) on Walthamstow Marshes. A blue plaque commemorating his efforts is located at the Western end of the Viaduct where he built his machine.
During the industrial revolution, the land retained its agricultural use, though increasingly hemmed in by surrounding developments. The impact of aggressive industrial urbanisation pressured local agricultural communities into relinquishing the ancient traditions of hay making and grazing. As a consequence the local council acquired the site with plans to develop it for recreational use, proposals which were hindered by the onset of WWII and the resulting period of austerity. World War II left its scars on the landscape across the Lea Valley. Signs of anti-landing trenches and the impacts from shelling are still visible today.
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In 1965, Walthamstow Marshes was acquired by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority as part of its plans to acquire the land which now forms the Lee Valley Regional Park. What would now be considered as a programme of rewilding was ushered in across many of the sites still under management by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, however, the focus here at Walthamstow was on the preservation of the marshes as they existed then. Pressure from local campaigners to halt development from encroaching on the site afforded Walthamstow Marshes with its designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1985.
It has since been further designated a nature reserve. The reserve is now actively managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority with the aims of retaining and, where possible, enhancing its original grassland meadows and marshlands - increasing its value for wildlife, while providing the local community space for recreation.
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Walthamstow Marshes’ today serves a number of functions on a local, national and even international scale. Primarily as a place to enjoy the some 400 plant and animal species that use the site across the year. Given its location on the edge of London, sandwiched between zones 2 & 3 on the London underground, Walthamstow Marshes affords a massive population the opportunity to feel at the heart of the countryside in the midst of the city.
It has become a hugely important connective piece of the landscape which welcomes over a million visitors a year.
Bordered on its southern edge is the brand new Lee Valley Ice Centre, a world class and sensitively designed venue which has been accompanied by the creation of some fabulous wildlife friendly landscaping, green walls and the creation of 2 large ponds. North of the reserve sits the hugely important London Wetland Centre managed by the London Wildlife Trust, home to a great number of diverse communities of wetland birds, many of which use the Marshes as hunting and feeding ground.
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