Thames Preservation Act 1885
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Thames Preservation Act, 1885
(48 & 49 Vict.) CHAPTER 76.
An Act for the preservation of the River Thames above Teddington Lock for purposes of public recreation, and for regulating the pleasure traffic thereon.
[14th August 1885]
Whereas the River Thames is a navigable highway; and whereas, by reason of the increase of population in London and other places near the said river, it has come to be largely used as a place of public recreation, and resort, and it is expedient that provision should be made for regulating the different kinds of traffic in the said river between the Town of Cricklade and Teddington Lock, and upon the banks thereof within the limits aforesaid, and for the keeping of public order and the prevention of nuisances, to the intent that the said river should be preserved as a place of regulated public recreation:
Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
PART I.—Navigation.
1 Public right of navigation.
1. It shall be lawful for all persons, whether for pleasure or profit, to go and be, pass and repass, in boats or vessels over or upon any and every part of the River Thames, through which Thames water flows, between the Town of Cricklade and Teddington Lock, including all such backwaters creeks side-channels bays and inlets connected therewith as form parts of the said liver within the limits aforesaid.
2 Private artificial cuts not to be deemed parts of the river.
2. All private artificial cuts for purposes of drainage or irrigation, and all artificial inlets for moats boathouses ponds or other like private purposes, already made or hereafter to be made, and all channels which by virtue of any conveyance from or agreement with the Conservators, or the Commissioners acting under any of the Acts mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act or by any lawful title have been enjoyed as private channels for the period of twenty years before the passing of this Act shall be deemed not to be parts of the said river for the purposes of the last preceding section or any provisions consequent thereon.
3 Conservators may exclude the public.
3. Notwithstanding anything in the first section contained, it shall be lawful for the Conservators from time to time to exclude the public for a limited period from specified portions of the said river for purposes connected with the navigation or with any public work or uses, or for the preservation of public order.
4 Right of navigation to include anchoring and mooring.
4. The right of navigation herein-before described shall be deemed to include a right to anchor, moor, or remain stationary for a reasonable time in the ordinary course of pleasure navigation, subject to such restrictions as the Conservators shall from time to time by byelaws determine; and it shall be the duty of the Conservators to make special regulations for the prevention of annoyance to any occupier of a riparian residence by reason of the loitering or delay of any house-boat or steam launch, and for the prevention of the pollution of the river by the sewage of any house-boat or steam launch. Provided that nothing in this Act, or in any byelaw made thereunder, shall be construed to deprive any riparian owner of any legal rights in the soil or bed of the river which he may now possess, or of any legal remedies which he may now possess for prevention of anchoring, mooring, loitering, or delay of any boat or other vessel, or to give any riparian owner any right as against the public which he did not possess before the passing of this Act to exclude any person from entering upon or navigating any back-water, creek, channel, bay, inlet, or other water, whether deemed to be part of the River Thames as in this Act defined or not.
Provided also, that the powers given by this clause shall be in addition to and not to be deemed to be in substitution for any powers already possessed by the Conservators.
5 Riparian owner to remove obstructions unless maintained for 20 years.
5. Any person obstructing the navigation herein-before described by means of any weir, bridge, piles, dam, chain, barrier, or other impediment, shall be liable to be called upon by the Conservators to remove the same, and his refusal to do so shall be deemed to be a continuing offence within the meaning of this Act, and the obstruction itself shall be deemed to be a nuisance to the navigation unless the same or substantially the same has been maintained for the period of twenty years before the commencement of this Act.
6 Provision against shooting or use of fire-arms on the river.
6. From and after the passing of this Act it shall be unlawful to discharge any firearm, air-gun, gun, or similar instrument over or upon the said river within the limits aforesaid, or the banks or towpaths thereof, or any land acquired by the Conservators under the provisions of this Act, and every person discharging any firearm, air-gun, gun, or similar instrument over or upon the said river limits as aforesaid, or the banks or towpaths thereof or any such land as aforesaid shall be deemed to have committed an offence under this Act.
PART II.—Regulation of Pleasure Boats.
7 Registration of boats.
7. In addition to the rights and duties of the Conservators relating to registration and tolls already created by the Thames Navigation Act, 1870, the Thames Conservancy Act, 1878, and the Thames Act, 1883, or by any other of the Acts in the First Schedule to this Act mentioned, it shall be lawful for the Conservators to direct by byelaw that all boats or vessels, with the exception of any such class of boats or vessels as may, together with the reasons of such exception, be specified in any such byelaw for pleasure navigation, shall be registered, together with the true names and addresses of the owners thereof respectively, in a General Register to be kept at their chief office in a form by them to be prescribed, and as to all vessels propelled by steam power and all house-boats and all rowing or sailing boats plying for hire, and any such other particular class of boats or vessels as by them from time to time by byelaw may be prescribed to issue licences to ply upon any part of the upper navigation, or upon a limited part thereof only, according to regulations in each case by them to be made by byelaw in manner herein-after provided.
8 Navigating without registration to be an offence.
8. From and after the dates by any such byelaw to be fixed respectively, it shall be an offence under this Act to use any boat or vessel of the class mentioned in the same byelaw on any part of the river to which such byelaw applies, unless such boat or vessel shall have been previously registered or licensed in manner therein provided.
9 Lists to be kept of private boats and boats for hire.
9. In the General Register in the seventh section of this Act mentioned, separate lists shall be kept of boats and vessels used for pleasure navigation by private owners and of boats and vessels let for hire. The former class of boats or vessels shall be distinguished, according to regulations to be made from time to time by the Conservators, by a registered number, crest, badge, or mark, and the latter class by a registered number; and the provisions of section eleven and section thirteen of the Thames Act, 1883, as to displaying or concealing the name or number of any steam launch shall be deemed in all cases to apply to the said registered numbers, crests, badge, and marks respectively, with such modifications as the Conservators may by such regulations from time to time direct.
10 Renewal of yearly registration.
10. It shall be lawful for the Conservators by byelaw to enact as to any or all of the classes of boats or vessels by them from time to time required to be licensed or registered as aforesaid, that such licence or registration shall be renewed at any interval not being less than one year.
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