Shiplake Lock
The Shiplake Lock is a lock in the River Thames at Shiplake , in Oxfordshire , England . It is just above the mouth of the River Loddon and the Thames and the Shiplake Railway Bridge . The lock was built in 1773 by the Thames Navigation Commission .
The weir is above the lock and connects the lock island with the Berkshire shore .
history
A weir and a floodgate be mentioned at this point in the 16th century. They were known as Cotterell's Lock , which remained in use after the lock was built. This was the second of the eight locks that were built after the reorganization of navigation on the Thames in 1770. It was made from spruce wood in 1773. The upstream towpath was being moved from the Berkshire bank to the Oxfordshire bank at this time. In 1787 the spruce wood had to be replaced by oak wood because it was rotted. There were two mills on the island at that time. The lock was renewed in 1874 and the weir was renovated in 1885. In 1891 the City of London Corporation bought the island for camping. In 1907 the dilapidated mills were torn down.
The Shiplake Lock was the first lock in the Thames to be converted to hydraulic operation in 1961. In winter 2009/2010 the wooden lock gates were replaced with steel gates for £ 600,000 .
Shiplake Lock was a popular fishing spot for young George Orwell and his friends around Jacintha Buddicom .
Camping on the lock island
The corporation bought the lock island to keep it for swimming and camping. It was administered by the Corporation's Lands Committee. However, management from a distance proved difficult and the island was leased permanently to the Thames Conservancy in 1914 . The campsite was divided into 18 plots that were managed by the lock keeper.
Soon after it was taken over by the Thames Conservancy, it was allowed to build huts near the tents. The huts were supposed to be used for cooking, sleeping in them was forbidden. Women were not allowed to sleep on the island, but had to sleep in wooden huts on the Oxfordshire shore.
The Thames Conservancy and its successor organizations the National Rivers Authority and the Environment Agency are unwilling to give more than one year leases to the parcel owners. The community is still very stable and parcels are used by the same family for generations.
The river above the lock
Phillimore Island is just above the lock. The Lynch and Hallsmead Ait and Buck Ait follow a little further . Here you can find the St Patrick's Stream . This watercourse is said to have been a tributary of the Thames, but due to the construction of the Shiplake Lock, the water level is said to have increased so that it became a drain and now flows into the River Loddon. The Sonning Lock is reached shortly after the Sonning Bridge . In front of the hamlet of Sonning Eye , a tributary of the Thames branches off, which is crossed by the Sonning Backwater Bridges .
The Thames Path runs all the way to Sonning in Oxfordshire, where it crosses the bridge and leads to Sonning Lock.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Fred S. Thacker: The Thames Highway. Volume II: Locks and Weirs. 1920 - 1968 reissued, David & Charles, Newton Abbot.
- ↑ National Archives ( Memento of the original from October 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Environment Agency: Rare chance to see deep into a Thames Lock. ( Memento of the original from November 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jacintha Buddicom, Dione Venables: Eric & Us. 2nd edition, Finlay Publisher, Chichester 2006, ISBN 0-9553708-1-7 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 30 '6.1 " N , 0 ° 52' 58.8" W.