Culham Lock

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The Culham Lock

The Culham Lock is a lock on the River Thames at Culham in Oxfordshire , England . The lock is in Culham Cut , a canal north of the main arm that runs at Sutton Courtenay . The stone lock was built in 1809 by the Thames Navigation Commission .

The weirs belonging to the lock are in the course of the main arm, where a dam separates the Sutton Pools . The lock can be accessed from the south via Sutton Bridge or from the north from Culham.

history

The river originally ran near Sutton Courtenay and a mill there. In 1667 a lock was mentioned for the first time , which was located below this mill. The lock dammed a lot of water and accordingly had high fees. In 1772 there were complaints to the Thames Navigation Commission, according to which the mill was an obstacle to shipping. Although it was privately owned, the commission carried out work there in 1789. But the complaints persisted.

In 1803 Zachary Allnutt of Henley became the official surveyor for the second and third sections of the Thames from Mapledurham to Staines . Even before his appointment he had taken on survey work for the Thames Navigation Commission, including that for a new lock at Culham in 1802. However, the workload was greater than for any other construction project, which is why implementation was not started immediately. Allnutt undertook a second survey for planning purposes in 1809 and work began in June of that year. The Culham Cut is the longest canal cut of the Thames with a length of 1300 m. The height difference of 2.1 m of the lock was very large when it was built. A stone road bridge was built over the canal. The construction work took a little less than a year. The cost was £ 9,000  including the cost of purchasing the land. Construction was supervised by George Treacher, who was paid £ 100 in recognition of his work on completion.

The river above the lock

Opposite the upstream end of the Culham Cut, a 137 m long cut was opened on August 30, 2006, which ends in a sweep. This cut will connect to the Wilts and Berks Canal on its historic route west of Abingdon as an extension .

The Swift Ditch , the former main arm of the river that created Andersey Island , flows here. At Abingdon is the now closed connection to the Wilts & Berks Canal and the mouth of the River Ock . The Abingdon Bridge crosses the river at Nag's Head Island .

The Thames Path runs on the east side of the river over Culham Bridge and Andersey Island to Abingdon Lock , where it changes to the other side.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fred S. Thacker: The Thames Highway. Volume II: Locks and Weirs. 1920 - 1968 reissued, David & Charles, Newton Abbot.
  2. ^ Alec Skempton: Civil Engineers and Engineering in Britain. 1600-1830 (= Collected studies. 533). Aldershot / Variorum, Hampshire / Brookfield, Vt. 1996, ISBN 0-86078-578-5 , p. 164.
  3. ↑ Grand Opening of “Jubilee Junction”. on abingdon.gentle-highway.info.

Coordinates: 51 ° 39 ′ 1.5 ″  N , 1 ° 16 ′ 3 ″  W.