Unstead Lock - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

On a straight cut the Godalming Navigation slices past a series of tortuous meanders alongside Unstead Lock.
The lock has a rise of 6ft 6in (1.98m) and dates back to 1764.
Prior to the 1830s Unsted without the ‘a’ was the common spelling. The original bricks of the lock were covered in concrete during refurbishment in the 1990s and which lead to considerable criticism of the National Trust at the time. The Lock is 17.8 miles (28.6 km) from the Thames.

There was once a corn mill sited next to the lock on the towpath side, and although Unstead Mill vanished long ago beneath the factory that now occupies the site with the mill race now filled in, the long tail-race remains witness to its existence. This race runs alongside the towpath by the main Navigation cut for over 300 yards (270 m) and today serves as a pleasant backwater for private houses that back down to it. There were originally two horse bridges here, although only one remains on the towpath today. The miller had control of sluices to control water flow. The sluices immediately upstream of the lock gates provide flood control with surplus water escaping along a cut to join the natural course of the Wey just across the water meadows. The mill ground corn until 1906 after which it became a flock mill, and then factories producing various goods. In the early 20th century tolls were collected here for the Navigation trustees from lock users, with the mill taking a 50% commission for their trouble.

(quoted from www.weyriver.co.uk)

Waterway Name: River Wey, Godalming Navigation Connected Points: The Godalming Navigation stretch of the River Wey links Godalming and Guildford Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1764 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Operational Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed Web Site: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/27/2014 prosniper visited it