Ufton Lock

Ufton Lock is a degated lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Padworth and Sulhamstead, Berkshire, England.

Ufton Lock
The degated lock
WaterwayKennet and Avon Canal
CountryEngland
CountyBerkshire
Maintained byCanal & River Trust
First builtc. 1834
Length80 feet (24 m)
Width14 feet (4.3 m)
Fall0 feet 0 inches (0 m)
Coordinates51°24′48″N 1°06′48″W

History

Ufton Lock was built in c.1834, making it the last lock on the waterway to be built.[nb 1] It was engineered by John Blackwell, who had dug a new 600-yard (550 m) cut to avoid the meandering River Kennet between Padworth and Sulhamstead.[1] The lock's depth was just 1 foot 9 inches (0.53 m),[2] which was to improve the head of water at Towney Lock, 0.6 miles (0.97 km) upstream.[1] When the waterway was restored in the 1960s, restoring the shallow lock was deemed unpractical and instead the rebuilt Towney Lock was deepened to cater for the difference in level.[3] The lock gates were removed, although the chamber masonry and bollards have been retained as a landing stage for the adjacent swing bridge.[4]

The canal is now administered by the Canal & River Trust.[5]

Footnotes

  1. Many locks were rebuilt during the canal's restoration (some of which, such as Towney and Burghfield, were restored directly up- or downstream of their original chamber). County Lock was moved to the opposite riverbank in the 1880s.

References

  1. Clew, Kenneth (1968). The Kennet & Avon Canal : an illustrated history (2nd ed.). David & Charles. p. 89.
  2. Allsop, Niall (1987). The Kennet & Avon Canal. Bath: Millstream Book. ISBN 0-948975-15-6.
  3. "Ufton". Mike Stevens UK Inland Waterways pages. Archived from the original on 9 October 2006. Retrieved 23 September 2006.
  4. "Heritage Gateway - Results". heritagegateway.org.uk. Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  5. Pearson, Michael (2003). Kennet & Avon Middle Thames:Pearson's Canal Companion. Rugby: Central Waterways Supplies. ISBN 0-907864-97-X.

See also

  • Locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal
Next lock upstream River Kennet / Kennet and Avon Canal Next lock downstream
Towney Lock Ufton Lock
Grid reference: SU 6177 6863
Tyle Mill Lock


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