Oxford canal - Lock 1 - Hawkesbury Stop Lock - Longford, UK
Posted by: ntpayne
N 52° 27.482 W 001° 28.100
30U E 604070 N 5813086
The first lock on the Oxford canal
Waymark Code: WMVBW9
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/29/2017
Views: 4
This is the first lock on the Oxford canal. Like all locks on this canal it is a single width lock (approx 7' 6").
This lock is also known as Sutton Stop lock. As a stop lock there is only a slight change in water level. The stop lock was put here bso that tolls culd be collected when boats left the canal to join the Coventry canal and vice versa.
The Oxford canal is in two sections. The North Oxford canal runs from Hawkesbury down to Braunston where it shares the waterway with the Grand Union canal until Napton where it becomes the South Oxford canal until meeting the River Thames at Oxford.
The South Oxford canal is 49 ¼ miles long; the stretch shared with the Grand Union is 5 miles long; the North Oxford canal 27 ¾ miles long.
There are seven locks on the North Oxford and 36 on the South Oxford with none on the stretch shared with the Grand Union.
The Hawkesbury to Banbury stretch was opened in 1778 and from Banbury to Oxford in 1790.
As an early canal the Oxford was built as a contour canal but due to competition from the Grand Union many sections at the northern end were straightened in the 1820s. This meant building embankments and digging cuttings reducing the original length of the North Oxford canal by 14 miles to its current day length.
Waterway Name: Oxford canal
Connected Points: The Oxford canal links the River Thames in Oxford to the Coventry canal at Hawkesbury junction north of Coventry. It also has junctions with the Grand Union canal at Napton (to Birmingham) and Braunston (to London).
Type: Lock
Date Opened: 01/01/1778
Elevation Difference (meters): .00
Site Status: Operational
Web Site: [Web Link]
Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed
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