Broxbourne Mill Stream
The Broxbourne Mill Stream is a part of the original course of the River Lea, before the latter was diverted for the purpose of improving navigation.
The stream diverges from the River Lee Navigation just south of Dobbs Weir. The Navigation was a great effort of the Victorian Age, in the promotion of which work none was more active than Hertfordshire's great squire the Second Marquess of Salisbury. Few loops of the old river are left todayt in Hertfordshire, but the Broxbourne Mill Stream is one, and its relatively natural channel is a contrast to the organised main channel of the Lea today. The stream forms a diverse range of habitats.
The town of Broxbourne developed as a small settlement for milling at a river crossing point at Broxbourne Mill. Spital Brook empties into the Mill Stream by Nazeing New Road.