River Weaver Navigation - Former Vale Royal Lock - Moulton, 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.

This lock was built in the 1860s as a double chamber lock as part of improvements to the navigation to take large boats. It remained in operation for 30 years. Further improvements for even larger vessels were made in the 1890s and locks on the navigation were rationalised with a smaller number remaining, converted to double chamber locks to cope with varying sizes of vessels.

In this case this the smaller lock chamber was converted to a non-navigable sluice channel and the original large chamber became the small chamber of the new lock. A new large chamber was built to the east of the original large chamber.

There is a public footpath across the river here and when this chamber was a lock there was a swing bridge across it. These days the bridge has been converted to a fixed foot bridge. There is also a footbridge over the sluice gate at the end of the former lock channel, but access to this is restricted.

This former lock, bridge and sluice gate is a Historic England Grade II Listed Building
"Sluice, channel and sluice a swing-bridges at Vale Royal Locks. - GV II Sluice. Built c1860 as a lock and converted to a sluice channel c1890. Red sandstone ashlar walls to channel with wooden sluice gate suspended from bridge of rusticated red sandstone with limestone ashlar dressings. Wood and iron swing-bridge. Rectangular channel with sluice gate and bridge at south end and swing bridge to south of centre. Red sandstone walls to channel and rusticated sandstone piers to bridge which has semi-circular piers to either side of front and rear and flights of steps to either side. Central cast iron round-arched support to bridge with open circles to spandrels and a wooden walkway and tubular iron handrail. The piers have limestone springers to the iron support and ashlar dressings to lower level and top of bridge parapet. The sluice channel was the small lock until the alterations of c1890 when it was converted and the sluice and sluice bridge were built." link

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: 01/01/1860 Date Closed (if applicable): 01/01/1890 Elevation Difference (meters): .00 Site Status: Remnants Web Site: [Web Link]

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