Écluse Seurre (Disused) - River Saône - Seurre - France - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

This disused lock on the River Saône was to the south of the town of Seurre. It was one of the seven locks that were replaced in the mid 1900s to make way for larger sized locks. There is now a new lock to the north of Seurre.

All that remains is the chamber as the gates have been removed from both ends. The original lock cottage is still lived in.

History (from fench-waterwasy.com) – The Saône has always been the most navigable of French rivers, with a very gentle gradient and regular flow, albeit subject to floods which can make the broad valley look like an inland sea. The Roman general Vetus envisaged a canal from the Saône to the Moselle. Natural navigability made merchants an easy prey for local lords and tax collectors, and chains were laid across the river in many locations, to collect tolls. Colbert declared them illegal in 1664, but it seemed to Delalande – writing in 1778 – that ‘the easier the navigation, the more its natural advantages have been abused by exactions of all sorts’. Navigability in the industrial era was introduced, as on the other major rivers, after the movable weir was invented by Poirée. By 1847 there were five weirs and locks on the Saône. The canalisation as completed above Auxonne has not changed, while development of the high-capacity waterway downstream meant the replacement of 12 early weirs and locks by only five in the 215 km. The last, at Seurre, was completed in 1980. The entire waterway remains in the national priority network, and may one day be adapted to form the high-capacity Saône-Moselle waterway (Vetus’ dream!)

Waterway Name: River Saône Connected Points: Logs marked as “visits” should be made after physically visiting the waymark location. Include a picture taken during the visit. Notes may be logged by individuals who have visited the web site or looked at the online information and would like to provide comments or feedback on the waymark. Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1847 Date Closed (if applicable): 01/01/1950 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Inactive Web Site: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
Logs marked as “visits” should be made after physically visiting the waymark location. Include a picture taken during the visit. Notes may be logged by individuals who have visited the web site or looked at the online information and would like to provide comments or feedback on the waymark.

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