Newbury 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

Kennet and Avon Canal The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of Navigability, navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than sol ...

in the town centre of Newbury, in the English county of

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 ...

. It has a rise/fall of 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m), and is situated just upstream of Newbury Bridge. The lock is a

grade II listed structure In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It has brick walls that are capped with

Bath Stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

and which are wider at the top than at the base in an attempt to counteract frost damage. It was built in 1796, as part of the construction of the Kennet and Avon Canal linking Newbury and

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. The canal was built under the supervision of John Rennie. Newbury Lock was the easternmost lock on the original Kennet and Avon Canal, and downstream it connected to what was the much older

Kennet Navigation The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which � ...

, opened in 1727 between

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and Newbury. The canal opened throughout in 1810 and provided, along with 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 ...

, the Kennet Navigation and the River Avon, a through route between

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. The Kennet Navigation was purchased by the Kennet and Avon Canal Company in 1812, and is now generally regarded as part of the Kennet and Avon canal. Adjacent to the lock is a sculpture called ''Ebb And Flow'', created by the sculptor

Peter Randall-Page Peter Randall-Page RA (born 1954) is a British artist and sculptor, known for his stone sculpture work, inspired by geometric patterns from nature. In his words "geometry is the theme on which nature plays his infinite variations, fundamental m ...

. The work comprises a large granite bowl set at the centre of a spiral granite path leading down from the lock. The bowl is connected to the lock by underground piping so that when the lock fills, water flows into the bowl and then empties away as the level of the water in the lock goes down.

References

{{Coord, 51.40099, N, 1.32576, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SU470671), display=title Grade II listed buildings in Berkshire Locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal Locks of Berkshire

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 ...

Grade II listed canals

See also

References