rivers

What is the longest river in England? There are many rivers in England but which is the longest? This article gives an answer to these two questions, along with lists of the top 10 longest rivers in England, along with their length.




There is a problem with these questions though; namely that they are quite ambiguous - England shares a land border with both Wales and Scotland. As such it needs to be determined whether these questions are asking 'What is the longest river just in England?' or 'What is the longest river which is at least partly within England?'. This may seem like nit-picking but depending on which option is asked affects the answer, as shown below.





A picture of the upper reaches of the River Severn - the longest river to pass through England. This photo was taken in Wales. What is the longest river with at least part in England?

The first question which can be answered is 'What is the largest river which has at least part in England?'. The answer to this question is the River Severn, which in addition to being the longest river which passes through England, is also the longest river in the UK. The length of the River Severn is generally taken to be 220 miles (354km), although there is some debate as to it's exact length.



The River starts in the Cambrian Mountains of central Wales. From here it travels in a north-eastern direction past the Welsh settlements of Newry and Welshpool, before entering England. It continues in this direction through England until it reaches Shrewsbury. From here it travels roughly south, first through the historic Ironbridge Gorge, before passing through the historic English settlements of Worcester, Tewkesbury and Gloucester. After passing through Gloucester the River Severn flows approximately towards the south-west. The river discharges into the Severn Estuary somewhere around the present Severn Crossing. However, There is some disagreement as to where exactly the Severn River becomes the Severn Estuary and this is what accounts for the uncertainty in exact length mentioned above. However, what is without debate is that the River Severn is the longest river which flows through England.





A picture of teh River Thames at night as it flows through the English capital, London. The River Thames is the longest river completely in England. What is the longest river solely in England?

The second question which is sometimes asked is 'What is the longest river which is completely in England?'. It makes sense that this will not be the longest river that flows through England, since it has already been proven that this was the River Severn, which is the longest river in the UK but has a portion within the country of Wales. The longest river solely in England is therefore the River Thames. The length of the River Thames is 215 miles, or 346 kilometres for those who prefer metric. As can be seen, this is only slightly shorter than the length of the River Severn.



There is some dispute as to the exact source of the River Thames. However, it is somewhere within a small part of the English county of Gloucestershire. The River Thames flow approximately east through a number of English counties. After leaving Gloucestershire the River Thames flows through Wiltshire for a while, before entering the county of Oxfordshire. The River Thames flows through the historic city of Oxford, before continuing through Oxfordshire and into Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Here it passes through the towns of Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The river then flows into Surrey where it flows through the capital city, London. The River Thames then continues eastwards through Essex and Kent, before discharging into the Thames Estuary.