HIGHEST - Lock on the Trent and Mersey Canal - Etruria Junction, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK.
N 53° 01.176 W 002° 11.618
30U E 554090 N 5874754
Stoke Top Lock 40 also known as Summit Lock is located on the Trent and Mersey Canal at Etruria Junction.
Waymark Code: WMWC67
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/12/2017
Views: 4
Stoke Top Lock 40 also known as Summit Lock is located at Etruria Junction and is the highest lock on the Trent and Mersey Canal.
"Etruria Junction is the meeting point of the Trent and Mersey and the Caldon Canal.
The Trent & Mersey canal was opened in 1777 and is 93 miles long, has 76 locks and runs from Derwent Mouth to Preston Brook.
The Caldon Canal was used to ship coal and limestone from Froghall to North Staffordshire and Cheshire.
Lock40 - Summit Lock is the highest on the Trent and Mersey Canal and one of the highest in the country. At this point boats were charged a toll as they passed along the canal. The boatman was charged according to the weight of the cargo. The former toll collection office and the adjoining canal warehouse now form part of the Etruria Industrial Museum.
To facilitate toll collection, mileposts were erected along the canal between 1819-20. The cast iron milepost from the Gauging Dock entrance dates from this time. The Gauging Dock was used by the canal authorities to 'gauge' new boats before they were allowed onto the waterway network.
Boats were floated into the dock and circular weights were loaded onto them. The water level was then marked on the bow of the boat. The building was originally roofed and evidence can be seen on the rear gable of the Canal Warehouse. The Summit Lock was also covered so that toll collectors and boatmen were protected from the elements. This roof was removed in the 1960's following the decline in commercial traffic, subsidence and the subsequent need to raise the level of the Lock." An old photograph showing the covered lock can be seen at the following link. Source: (
visit link)