River Weaver Navigation - Dutton Lock - Dutton, 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 "Pair of locks: dated 1874 for the Weaver Navigation Co. Red sandstone and limestone ashlar in bands, wooden gates and cast-iron furniture. Lock gates driven by Pelton turbines with cast-iron covers inscribed NORTHERN FOUNDRY CO. LTD: TURBINE MAKERS: OIJDHAM. Control handles on bollards with spherical tops standing on circular cast-iron covers inscribed HANNA DONALD & WILLS MAKERS, PAISLEY, 1874. The locks, large enough to take sea going ships, have semaphore signals to control entry." link

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.

An information board next to the lock informs us that the biggest ever boat to use the locks was the 1,000 tonne capacity St. Michael from Holland which came in 1984.

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   05/17/2015 ntpayne visited it