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
Waterway	Kennet and Avon Canal
Country	England
County	Berkshire
Maintained by	Canal & River Trust
First built	c. 1834
Length	80 feet (24 m)
Width	14 feet (4.3 m)
Fall	0 feet 0 inches (0 m)
Coordinates	51°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