Called Askunessippi, “the antlered river,” by the Algonquin inhabitants who originally occupied the land, the river was renamed after the River Thames in England by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe in 1793. Flowing west 273 kilometres (169 miles) through Southwestern Ontario, it drains 5,825 square kilometres (2,249 square miles) of land through the cities of London and Chatham to Lighthouse Cove on Lake St. Clair. From London, where the North and South branches of the river meet, the lower leg flows through a shallow plain of sand and clay, with an average depth of 7 metres (23 feet). The river was the location of The Battle of the Thames (also known as the Battle of Moraviantown) was fought on October 5, 1813 - an important battle of the War of 1812. On August 14, 2000, the Thames was designated a Canadian Heritage River.