Eynsham Lock

Eynsham Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England. It is on the southern bank near Swinford Oxfordshire. The large village of Eynsham is a little distance away on the northern bank.

Eynsham Lock

Waterway	River Thames
County	Oxfordshire
Maintained by	Environment Agency
Operation	Manual
First built	1928
Length	34.51 m (113 ft 3 in) [1]
Width	4.97 m (16 ft 4 in)[1]
Fall	0.84 m (2 ft 9 in)[1]
Above sea level	195'
Distance to Teddington Lock	100 miles

Eynsham Lock
River Thames weir Pinkhill Lock marina island B4044 Swinford Bridge Eynsham Lock & weir River Thames

The lock was one of the last pound locks built on the Thames being built by the Thames Conservancy in 1928.

The weir is on the other side of the island on the original course of the river.

History

There was previously a weir and flash lock known as Eynsham or Bolde's weir, originally owned by Eynsham Abbey. The weir was rebuilt in 1886 after there had been some proposals for removing it and around 1890 a boatslide was built for the portage of small boats.[2] It was replaced by the pound lock in 1928 which was cut across the neck of a bend. The weir was reconstructed in 1950.

Access to the lock

The lock is close to the B4044 road where it crosses the river at Swinford Toll Bridge and is accessible on foot. There is a permissive path across the lock and weir.

Reach above the lock

The river upstream of Eynsham Lock

A short distance upstream of the lock is Swinford Toll Bridge. After the bridge there used to be a very sharp horseshoe bend which gave problems to navigation until a cut was built across it in 1900. The river continues to head south west through predominantly open country. The only interruption is a large marina on the eastern bank.

The Thames Path follows the southern bank to Pinkhill Lock.

See also

• Locks on the River Thames

External links

• Eynsham Lock illustrated feature at Eynsham Online
• A History of The River Thames at Eynsham extract from The Eynsham Record
• Eynsham Lock archived from eynsham.org

References

1. "Environment Agency Dimensions of locks on the River Thames". web page. Environmental Agency. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012. Dimensions given in metres
2. Fred. S. Thacker The Thames Highway: Volume II Locks and Weirs 1920 - republished 1968 David & Charles
3. "Environment Agency Distances between locks on the River Thames". web page. Environmental Agency. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012. Distances given in km