Goring Lock

Goring Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames in England at the Goring Gap in the Chiltern Hills. The lock is located on the Oxfordshire bank at Goring-On-Thames, with Streatley, Berkshire on the opposite side of the river. It is just upstream of Goring and Streatley Bridge. The lock was first built in 1787 by the Thames Navigation Commissioners

Goring Lock

The view of Goring Lock from Goring and Streatley Bridge
Waterway	River Thames
County	Oxfordshire
Maintained by	Environment Agency
Operation	Hydraulic
First built	1787
Latest built	1921
Length	54.68 m (179 ft 5 in) [1]
Width	6.40 m (21 ft 0 in)[1]
Fall	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Above sea level	136'
Distance to Teddington Lock	65 miles
Power is available out of hours

Goring Lock
River Thames Cleeve Lock weir weir Site of old mill Goring Lock Goring Bridge Goring Mill River Thames

The weir runs back to an island under the bridge and then another weir goes from there to the Streatley bank.

History

There was originally a weir and ferry here belonging to Goring Priory, which became the property of millers who kept a flash lock. A report in a newspaper of 1674 tells how 60 people drowned in the lock when the ferryman rowed too close to it. The pound lock was built in August 1787 from oak. Over several decades operation of the lock appears to have been shared with that of Cleeve Lock until 1869. Following this there were plans to build a lock-house, but this was not started until 1879.[2] The lock itself was replaced in 1886. In the last rebuild in 1921 the lock had intermediate gates installed, making two pounds, but these were removed in the refit in 2003.

Access to the lock

The lock is situated almost under the bridge and is easily accessible from both Goring and Streatley

Reach above the lock

The reach is only just over half a mile long. The Cleeve side of the river is occupied by large gardens stretching down the hillside with several boat-houses on the river. There are islands below Cleeve lock, with weirs between them, and these extend for some distance. On the Streatley side are meadows and woods.

The Thames Path, having crossed Goring Bridge to Streatley, continues through on the western bank to Cleeve Lock.

Boat houses along the Cleeve side

The lock and weir in winter

See also

• Locks on the River Thames

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 and Charles
3. "Environment Agency Distances between locks on the River Thames". web page. Environmental Agency. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012. Distances given in km