Whitchurch Lock
The Whitchurch Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England . It was built in 1787 by the Thames Navigation Commission . It is located on an island south of Whitchurch-on-Thames in Oxfordshire . The lock is the only one in the Thames that can only be reached by boat.
The weir crosses the river to the Berkshire town of Pangbourne , where the River Pang flows into the Thames south of the lock.
history
A water lock is first mentioned in the 16th century at Whitchurch. Drawings show that there was a massive dam that was higher than the usual flood of the river. At the southern end there was a passage with a width of 9.1 m. Regulated by gates and boards, the river could fall between 0.91 m and 1.22 m at this point. The actual passage was in the middle of the dam and was 7 m wide, which corresponds to the standard width for all locks in the Thames below Abingdon. There was a winch on the north side of the river to pull the ships against the current.
The lock was built from oak on the island in the summer of 1787 . Other locations were previously considered. One possibility would have been to widen the Mill Canal at Whitchurch, the other a lock at Pangbourne. A lock keeper's house was built on the island in 1830. In the late 19th century, locals used the weir to cross the river to avoid paying tolls on Whitchurch Bridge. The lock was built in stone in 1876 and access to the Pangbourne Weir was closed. Whitchurch access to the lock was closed in 1888.
The river above the lock
The river runs along the Chiltern Hills to Goring Gap . The Gatehampton Railway Bridge lies in this section.
There was another lock in this section, the Harts Lock, before the current lock was built, but it was abandoned and its remains were removed in 1910.
The Thames Path crosses the river at Whitchurch Bridge and traverses the village. Then it goes through small forests and reaches the river at the level of the abandoned Harts Lock. From there it follows the river on the Oxfordshire side to Goring .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Alec Skempton: Civil Engineers and Engineering in Britain, 1600-1830. Variorum, 1996, ISBN 0-86078-578-5 , pp. 154-155.
- ^ A b Fred S. Thacker: The Thames Highway. Volume II: Locks and Weirs. 1920 - 1968 reissued, David & Charles, Newton Abbot.
Coordinates: 51 ° 29 '12.6 " N , 1 ° 5' 16.1" W.