Forgotten Structures and Waterways

[Heartland]

The recent topic on obscure canals also touches on forgotten structures like flash locks, disused canals or canal structures made for water mill leats, but not really for navigation.

 

The subject of flasg locks is an interesting topic in its own right and it would be useful to list that remain or what is left of them. It is possible to work out where two single barrier locks existed on the Warwick Avon and I have heard that there may be an example of such a lock on the Lugg in Herefordshire.

 

Assumimg that the Teme had locks, is I hope been throughly disproved. That Navigation only went as far as Powick and the power of this river was good enough to drive water mills and ironworks, but was not suitable for navigations

 

Ray Shill

[magpie patrick]

I will start with a south western perspective: the River Parrett has Thorney Lock and Langport Lock. Lanport Lock is very much still there but is level as the sluices have been removed. I can't lay my hands on an imagie but it is between the road and railway bridges downstream of the town. The river is navigable at this point although sledome used. It is also hasa right of navigation through Oath Sluice Downstream but that hasn't stopped the EA putting a non-navigable sluice in the way.

 

Further upstream on the same river is Thorney Lock. Now this is a peculiarity. It is tidgy, claims to be a half lock (flash lock) and yet has a fall of several feet. It is at the historic legal head of navigation. The lock can be seen on the left in this picture

 

Kingsbury Episcopi

 

It's too deep for a standard half lock, the gates could never have been opened and if they were a maelstrom would result. It is also at the head of navigation, why have a lock there? My suspicion is that the lock had a constant flow or a mill sluice at the top end, and a pair of bottom gates allowed a chamber to be filled. What I do know is that whilst the legal right of navigation did not extend above it, the riparian owner had their own needs and wanted their own boats to go further upstream.

 

Thorney could only be reached from downstream when the river had a good flow