Shifford Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England. It is in the centre of a triangle formed by the small villages of Shifford, Duxford and Chimney in Oxfordshire. It is at the start of a navigation cut built with the lock by the Thames Conservancy in 1898. This was the only new lock built on the non-tidal Thames in the era of falling revenue after the Thames Conservancy took over responsibilities of the Thames Navigation Commission. It replaced a flash lock in a weir about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) downstream.
The original flash lock was in a weir close to the entrance to Great Brook. This was removed between 1829 and 1853, and there were later complaints about the lack of draught in the river. Discussion of the possibility of the new lock only began in 1896 and two years later it was open. The lock cut was based on a pre-existing side channel which was considerably widened. After the lock was built, the towpath around the old navigation channel fell into disuse. There were moves to have it called Chimney Lock, but the name Shifford Lock was adopted.[2]
Access to the lockedit
The lock can be reached on foot from Chimney about a mile away.
Reach above the lockedit
The cut is about a mile long, and halfway along is the Shifford Cut Footbridge. The cut rejoins the old course of the river and continues past Chimney. Further along the reach there is another wooden footbridge, Tenfoot Bridge and after that is Tadpole Bridge.
The Thames Path starts on the south bank of the cut, crosses over on Shifford Cut Footbridge and then continues on the north bank beyond the cut to Rushey Lock.
^ abc "Environment Agency Dimensions of locks on the River Thames". web page. Environmental Agency. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012. Dimensions given in metres
^Fred. S. Thacker The Thames Highway: Volume II Locks and Weirs 1920 - republished 1968 David & Charles
^ ab "Environment Agency Distances between locks on the River Thames". web page. Environmental Agency. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012. Distances given in km
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shifford, lock, lock, river, thames, england, centre, triangle, formed, small, villages, shifford, duxford, chimney, oxfordshire, start, navigation, built, with, lock, thames, conservancy, 1898, this, only, lock, built, tidal, thames, falling, revenue, after, . Shifford Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England It is in the centre of a triangle formed by the small villages of Shifford Duxford and Chimney in Oxfordshire It is at the start of a navigation cut built with the lock by the Thames Conservancy in 1898 This was the only new lock built on the non tidal Thames in the era of falling revenue after the Thames Conservancy took over responsibilities of the Thames Navigation Commission It replaced a flash lock in a weir about 3 4 mile 1 2 km downstream Shifford LockWaterwayRiver ThamesCountyOxfordshireMaintained byEnvironment AgencyOperationManualFirst built1898Length34 64 m 113 ft 8 in 1 Width4 59 m 15 ft 1 in 1 Fall2 23 m 7 ft 4 in 1 Above sea level210 Distance to Teddington Lock110 miles vteShifford Lock Legend River Thames Rushey Lock amp weir Tadpole Bridge Tenfoot Bridge weir navigable to Duxford Ford footbridge weir Shifford Lock River Thames There is a small weir beside the lock and a larger weir on the old course of the river upstream at the top of the lock cut Contents 1 History 2 Access to the lock 3 Reach above the lock 4 See also 5 External links 6 ReferencesHistory editThe original flash lock was in a weir close to the entrance to Great Brook This was removed between 1829 and 1853 and there were later complaints about the lack of draught in the river Discussion of the possibility of the new lock only began in 1896 and two years later it was open The lock cut was based on a pre existing side channel which was considerably widened After the lock was built the towpath around the old navigation channel fell into disuse There were moves to have it called Chimney Lock but the name Shifford Lock was adopted 2 Access to the lock editThe lock can be reached on foot from Chimney about a mile away Reach above the lock editThe cut is about a mile long and halfway along is the Shifford Cut Footbridge The cut rejoins the old course of the river and continues past Chimney Further along the reach there is another wooden footbridge Tenfoot Bridge and after that is Tadpole Bridge The Thames Path starts on the south bank of the cut crosses over on Shifford Cut Footbridge and then continues on the north bank beyond the cut to Rushey Lock See also editLocks on the River Thames Crossings of the River Thames Next crossing upstream River Thames Next crossing downstream Tenfoot Bridge Shifford Lock Newbridge Next lock upstream River Thames Next lock downstream Rushey Lock6 92 km 4 30 mi 3 Shifford LockGrid reference SP370010 Northmoor Lock 7 63 km 4 74 mi 3 External links editShifford Lock Gazetteer entry at mihailis net Picture of Shifford Lock at geograph org ukReferences edit a b c Environment Agency Dimensions of locks on the River Thames web page Environmental Agency 8 November 2012 Retrieved 17 November 2012 Dimensions given in metres Fred S Thacker The Thames Highway Volume II Locks and Weirs 1920 republished 1968 David amp Charles a b Environment Agency Distances between locks on the River Thames web page Environmental Agency 8 November 2012 Retrieved 19 November 2012 Distances given in km nbsp This Oxfordshire location article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte 51 42 23 N 1 27 57 W 51 70652 N 1 46595 W 51 70652 1 46595 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Shifford Lock amp oldid 1061303747, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
