Lee/Lea of the Valley

When I was reading the other day about Hardmead Lock Cottage (near Ware) being for sale, I note that it's recorded as being either on the River Lea or the River Lee.

Is it the Lee or Lea?   I've often wondered.

The park in the valley is officially the Lee Valley Park.

Lea Valley Homes and the 2012 Olympics (amongst many others) call it Lea.

Transport For London spell it both ways on the same page.

Lee, says Canalplan.

The River Lee - Our River, says the Lee Education Network.

The River Lea, says Peter Marshall on his Lea Valley Website, but he suggests that Lee Navigation is a more appropriate name and spelling for the waterway from a boating perspective.

So, not much consensus there.  It really needs a 'disambiguation page', like on Wikipedia. Try this one. 

Comments

[Roger]

Its law - its actually from an act of parliament of the 1760's - its the River Lea for the river and Lee navigation for the bit that the boats use. Anyone describing the Lee Navigation as the bits which wasnt meant for navigation, or saying the Lee Navigation is the River Lea are in fact using illegal terms.

Authorities such as the Lee Valley Park are careful to make sure their maps and leaflets do describe the different waterways acurately.

Hardmead Lock is on the Lee Navigation, NOT the River Lea (which travels round the far side of the Amwell Quarry nature reserve)- so selling it as a point of being on the River Lea is something that should be reported as misleading advertising

[Nick Corble]

It is defiantly the Lea at its source in Luton and somewhere in my researches for my walking book covering Herts and Beds (annoyingly I can't remember where I picked this up) it was suggested that it is the Lea west of Hertford and the Lee to the east - although theory and practice of course ...

[Mike Thain]

I lived close to the River LEA for some 20 years and have often wondered why, in the last couple of years, it has become the River Lee.

Maybe it has something to do with 'practice' becoming 'practise', 'licence' becoming 'license' and 'despatch' becoming 'dispatch'. How long before 'notice' becomes 'notise'. It doesn't appear to be anthing to do with the misuse of the UK or US English spellcheckers.

[Richard]

I am fairly certain that definition in Nicholsons is the Lee Navigation and the River Lea but not being on the boat ...

Richard

[Sarah]

River Lee (as per the River Class boat)
Lee Navigation
Lea Valley

I think.

Looked at the Newham Council website and they use both interchangeably for both the river and the valley, so are probably not the most reliable (local) authority.