Radcot Lock

Infobox Waterlock
lock_name = Radcot Lock [ [http://www.visitthames.co.uk/uploads/a_users_guide_to_the_River_thames.pdf Statistics from Environment Agency "A User's Guide to the River Thames:Part II"] ]


caption=
waterway = River Thames
county = Oxfordshire
maint = Environment Agency
operation = Manual
first = 1892
latest =
length = 113’ 6“ (34.59m)
width = 15’ 0” (4.57m)
fall = 4’ 10” (1.48m)
sealevel = 221'
enda = Teddington Lock
distenda = 117 miles
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Radcot Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England just downstream of Radcot, Oxfordshire, on the southern bank.

The lock was built by the Thames Conservancy in 1892 on the site of an old weir and flash lock.

The weir is on the other side of the lock island.

History

There was previously a weir on the site known as Clarke's, although the names Becks or Bucks were also used. It was removed in 1868 and the river was widened then. Proposals for the new pound lock and weir were raised in 1891 and implemented the following year. [Fred. S. Thacker "The Thames Highway: Volume II Locks and Weirs" 1920 - republished 1968 David & Charles]

Access to the lock

The lock can be reached on foot from the southern end of Radcot Bridge, or by road on a longer route via Thrupp Turn.

Reach above the Lock

About halfway along is Radcot Bridge the oldest surviving bridge on the river. There is a considerable amount of mooring at the backwaters here. Stone for the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral, obtained from local quarries was loaded on rafts near the bridge.

Above Radcot is a sharp bend called "Hell's Turn" or "Hell Gut", and further on a point known as "Schoolmaster's Hole".

The Thames Path, which is on the opposite side of the river from the lock, follows the northern bank to Grafton Lock.

See also

* Locks on the River Thames

References

External links

* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/13765 Photograph of Radcot Lock] at geograph.org.uk