Lock Office - Ottawa, Ontario - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

The Lock Office is located on the Rideau Canal below the Parliament Buildings at the upper end of the Ottawa lock station near the Rideau River. It is an asymmetrical, one-and-a-half storey building of random coursed stonework surmounted by a hipped roof clad in slate. Features include large arched windows, an enclosed porch and a shuttered bay window.

The Lock Office is a very good example of a building associated with the construction and operation of the Rideau Canal. The Office illustrates the theme of military defence strategy for Upper and Lower Canada in the second quarter of the 19th century, and the evolution and transformation of the waterway as a federal public work. It also illustrates the development and maintenance of regional canal systems by the federal government in the post-Confederation era. It is associated with major changes at the Ottawa Lockstation during the late 19th century, such as the beautification of the site following the establishment of the adjacent Major’s Hill Park.

The Lock Office at the Ottawa Lockstation is the most architecturally distinguished of the several lock offices along the Rideau Canal, and the only extant one that was constructed of masonry in the 19th century. The solid composition and eclectic architectural expression exemplifies the combination of different styles that typified the work of the Department of Public Works under the direction of Chief Architect Thomas Fuller. The building underwent extensive interior alterations in 1973, and its exterior was restored in 1980. Good craftsmanship can be seen in the exterior stonework.

Character-defining elements:

- its Romanesque Revival elements, such as thick voussoirs and a large semi-circular arch, which are combined with more traditional Victorian elements like segmented arches.

Source: (visit link)

Public/Private: Private Tours Available?: No Year Built: 1884 Web Address: Not listed

Visit Instructions:

Category Visiting Requirements

An original photo is necessary to log a visit in this category along with a description of the visit. No extra visit requirements are allowed by the waymarker.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   05/25/2022 Babushka_Qc visited it 03/18/2022 blackjack65 visited it 08/29/2021 petendot visited it 05/17/2020 The Burrow visited it 01/15/2020 elyob visited it 09/03/2019 Lynx Humble visited it

View all visits/logs