Boveney Lock is a

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

situated on the

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

bank opposite the

Windsor Racecourse Windsor Racecourse, also known as Royal Windsor Racecourse, is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is near the M3 and the M4 and the town has two railway stations. It is one of only two figure-of-eight ...

and close to

Eton Wick Eton Wick is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Eton, in the Windsor and Maidenhead district, in Berkshire, England. Historically it was part of Buckinghamshire. Between the River Thames and the Jubilee River, the village is ...

Boveney Boveney is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Dorney, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated near Windsor, between the villages of Eton Wick in Berkshire, and Dorney and Dorney Reach in Buckinghamshire. Since bounda ...

is a village a little way upstream on the same side. The lock was first built in 1838 by the

Thames Navigation Commission The Thames Navigation Commission managed the River Thames in southern England from 1751 to 1866. In particular, they were responsible for installing or renovating many of the Canal lock, locks on the river in the 18th and early 19th centuries H ...

. The lock was rebuilt in 1898 closer to the Buckinghamshire bank, and a set of boat rollers were installed on the old site. The

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

is almost parallel to the lock, running across from the other side of the lock island.

History

Although the river below Maidenhead was supposed to be clear of weirs, there is record of a weir and

flash lock A flash lock is a type of lock (water transport), lock for river or canal transport. Early locks were designed with a single gate, known as a flash lock or staunch lock. The earliest European references to what were clearly flash locks were in ...

at Gill's

buck Buck may refer to: Common meanings * A colloquialism for a United States, Canadian, or Australian dollar * An adult male animal in some species - see List of animal names - e.g.: ** Goat buck ** Deer buck ** Sheep buck * Derby shoes, nicknamed "bu ...

s a short way upstream of the present site. There were suggestions of a pound lock here as early as 1780, and various plans for a lock were proposed in 1820. These plans proposed cuts to the mouth of Clewer Mill Stream because of difficult navigation of the tight bends downstream. However, the present location was eventually chosen, with a timber lock built in 1838. With the regular traffic of boats from

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

to Queen's Eyot, a temporary boat slide was built in 1895, which became permanent on the site of the old lock when a new lock was built immediately to the side in 1898. The weir was rebuilt in about 1913.Fred. S. Thacker ''The Thames Highway: Volume II Locks and Weirs'' 1920 - republished 1968 David & Charles

Access to the lock

The lock is some distance from any road, and can be reached by walking to the river from Eton Wick and following the towpath.

Reach above the lock

On the

bank the land towards

Dorney Dorney is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It borders the River Thames to the west and south, and is bisected by the Jubilee River. In 2011 it had a population of 752. It is west of neighbouring Eton, which is a slight ...

is open fields with

Dorney Lake Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake and Meetings & Events Venue in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around ...

behind. On the

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

bank the river passes

Bush Ait Bush Ait is an island of Clewer, Berkshire in the Thames on the reach above Boveney Lock at the mouth of the Clewer Mill Stream which leads to Windsor Racecourse Marina. The island is unpopulated and wooded.Clewer Mill Stream. There are houses at Dedworth, a caravan park and Windsor Marina before

Oakley Court Oakley Court is a Gothic Revival architecture, Victorian Gothic country house set in overlooking the River Thames at Water Oakley in the civil parish of Bray, Berkshire, Bray in the England, English county of Berkshire. It was built in 1859 and ...

, home of many

Hammer horror Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

films. Upstream is

Queens Eyot Queen's Eyot is an island in the River Thames in England on the reach above Boveney Lock, just upstream of Oakley Court near Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor, Berkshire. The island is owned by Eton College and contains a club house that is availa ...

, owned by

, opposite Bray Marina. York Stream then joins the river from "The Cut" on the southern bank. Summerleaze Footbridge here was built as a gravel conveyor for the building of Dorney Lake and is now a pedestrian bridge.

Monkey Island ''Monkey Island'' is a series of adventure games. The first four games were produced and published by LucasArts, earlier known as Lucasfilm Games. The fifth was developed by Telltale Games with LucasArts, while the sixth was developed by Terribl ...

is a short way upstream and then the M4 Bridge crosses the river a little way below Bray Lock.

Sports clubs

* Eton Excelsior Rowing Club

Thames Path

The

Thames Path The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from one of its sources near Kemble, Gloucestershire, Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Woolwich foot tunnel, south east London. It is about long. A path was first proposed in 1948 ...

stays on the northern side of the river to Bray lock.

References