MS 347 Historic River Data Archive

About the collection

The Historic River Data Archive is a collection of technical data, both biological and chemical, relating to the Rivers Trent and Thames and for the Anglian Region, which was gathered by Professor Terry Langford of the University of Southampton.

Thames Tideway data (A2073/1) range from weekly and other surveys from 1900 to 1990. Amongst this material are London County Council Chemical and Gas Department sewage precipitation returns volumes, with daily returns, 1900-6; London County Council Public Health Department examinations of water, estuary and sewage samples, 1915-78; Port of London Authority River Department analysis of samples of effluent from sewage and gas works, paper mills, and breweries on the River Thames, 1921-62; and daily statistics for corrected minimum for dissolved oxygen at sites on the River Thames, 1985-90.

The papers relating to the River Trent (A2073/2) consist of over 22,000 items for the period 1945-87, and provide the primary source of information on the state of these rivers over significant blocks of time. Annual reports, 1945-73, for the River Trent Fishery Board and subsequently the River Board, contain diagrammatic maps of water quality of the river and its principal tributaries, colour coded for the level of ammoniacal nitrogen and a key marking where rivers were fishless. Other data for the Trent include: biological data survey sheets assessing freshwater invertebrates on the Rivers Ouse and Ouzel, Cam and elsewhere, 1969-87; and written reports of the Severn-Trent Water Authority Directorate of Scientific Services Regional Laboratory, Nottingham, on biological analysis of the Trent, Derwent and other rivers, 1971-82.

The Anglian Region material (A2073/3) is composed of invertebrate survey data sheets, 1976-87, and fauna survey data, 1967-89.

Date range:

1900-90

Former references:

A2073

Size:

240 boxes