River Weaver Navigation - Saltersford Lock - Barnton, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

"Completion of the River Weaver Navigation in 1734 provided a navigable route for transporting salt from Winsford, through Northwich, to Frodsham, where the Weaver joins the River Mersey.

A single chamber lock had been constructed in 1835 on a new cut at Barnton when the original navigation had been improved.

Further improvements to make the river suitable for coasters began in 1856, when Edward Leader Williams was appointed as engineer. He oversaw the complete reconstruction of the navigation between 1870 and 1900, a programme which was designed to ensure that the river remained attractive to carriers, and which ensured its profitability. The 12 locks of the 1830s were replaced by five much larger locks, and most of the bridges were replaced by swing bridges, which enabled coasters of up to 1000 tons to use the river."

The lock is a Historic England Grade II Listed Building "River navigation locks: dated 1874 for the Weaver Navigation Co. Red sandstone and limestone ashlar in bands, wooden gates and cast-iron furniture. A large and narrow rectangular lock in parallel, each with a pair of wooden gates. The gates are driven by Stoney's patent Pelton Turbines. These have circular cover plates with dated segmental hatches with the founder's name HANNA, DONALD & WILLS, PAISLEY. These are operated by handles on bollards with ball tops. At either end of the locks are pairs of semaphore signals to control the traffic."

These days mainly leisure craft use the locks and are controlled by a lock keeper. Passage through the lock has to be booked in advance. Because of this system the semaphore signals are now redundant.

Waterway Name: River Weaver Navigation Connected Points: The navigation connects Winsford, through Northwich, to Frodsham, where the Weaver joins the River Mersey. There is also a connection to the Trent & Mersey Canal at Anderton via a boat lift. Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1874 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/19/2015 ntpayne visited it