County Oxfordshire Operation Manual Width 4.57 m (15 ft 0 in) First built 1892 | Maintained by Environment Agency Length 34.59 m (113 ft 6 in) Fall 1.48 m (4 ft 10 in) Waterway River Thames | |
Similar Grafton Lock, Rushey Lock, River Thames, Buscot Lock, Eynsham Lock | ||
Radcot Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England just downstream of Radcot, Oxfordshire, on the southern bank.
Contents
Map of Radcot Lock, Faringdon SN7 8JT, UK
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.
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. The bridge crossing the main channel has a single arch, and was constructed in stone in the late 18th century. The A4095 road which it carries also crosses a backwater, which was once the county boundary between Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The backwater bridge dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, and has three arches, the outer two being pointed, with the central one less so, as a result of later rebuilding. 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.