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The Great Britain Guide

Canal locks · West Midlands

Sandford Lock

Free admission

Sandford Lock — lock in Oxfordshire, England, UK.

Sandford Lock, canal locks in Oxfordshire

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
20 min–45 min
Nearest railway station
Radley · 2.5 km
  • Free entry
  • Dog-friendly

About

Sandford Lock is a canal lock in the United Kingdom. Wikidata describes it as: "lock in Oxfordshire, England, UK". Coordinates: 51.7080°, -1.2331°.

Photo gallery

From the Wikipedia article

Sandford Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England, situated at Sandford-on-Thames which is just south of Oxford. The first pound lock was built in 1631 by the Oxford-Burcot Commission although this has since been rebuilt. The lock has the deepest fall of all locks on the Thames at 8 ft 9in (2.69m) and is connected to a large island which is one of three at this point. The lock lies at the end of Church Lane in Sandford on Thames. Upstream from the lock, the main weir connects the second island to the opposite bank on the Kennington, Oxfordshire side. This is the location of the infamous Sandford Lasher, a treacherous weirpool where many have drowned. Another weir links the two lower islands.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

There was a mill here built by the Knights Templar in around 1294. There are also records of a ferry and a fish weir in medieval times. In the reign of Edward III there is an account of the immemorial conflict between millers and bargemen when "the men of Oxon broke down the locks of Sandford". This was probably at the navigation weir or flash lock on the old river channel behind the second island. This was described in 1624 as ‘Great Lockes’. It was replaced in 1631 when the Oxford-Burcot Commission built one of the first pound locks in England here. The lock was passed on to the Thames Navigation Commission in 1790 and lengthened in 1795, under the direction of Daniel Harris, the Oxford…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
51.7080, -1.2331
County
Oxfordshire
Parish
Sandford-on-Thames
Postcode
OX4 4YD
Parliamentary constituency
Didcot and Wantage
Nearest railway station
Radley2.5 km

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Sandford Lock?
Sandford Lock is in West Midlands, in the United Kingdom — coordinates 51.7080°, -1.2331°. The nearest railway station is Radley, around 2.5 km away.
Is Sandford Lock free to visit?
Yes — admission to Sandford Lock is free.