Sandford 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 ...

in England, situated at Sandford-on-Thames which is just south of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. The first pound lock was built in 1631 by the

Oxford-Burcot Commission The Oxford-Burcot Commission was the first commission concerned with the management of the River Thames, appointed by an act of Parliament, the (3 Jas. 1. c. 14) to make the stretch of river from Burcot to Oxford navigability, navigable. The c ...

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 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 ...

links the two lower islands.

History

There was a mill here built by the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

in around 1294. There are also records of a ferry and a fish weir in medieval times. In the reign of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

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 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 ...

on the old river channel behind the second island. This was described in 1624 as ‘Great Lockes’. It was replaced in 1631 when the

built one of the first pound locks in England here. The lock was passed on to 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 ...

in 1790 and lengthened in 1795, under the direction of Daniel Harris, the Oxford gaoler, at a cost of nearly £1,800. In 1836 a new lock was built on the current site alongside the old one and a lock house was ordered in 1839. The old lock has since been filled in after an incident when a miller opened the sluices and caused damage to the embankments. Its position is still visible (the position of the upper gates can be seen in the stonework above the present upper gates). An iron bridge above the lock was built between 1866 and 1877. The latest rebuild of the lock was in 1972.

Sandford Lasher

Sandford Lasher, or weir, is on the left bank well upstream of Sandford Lock. The pool below the weir has been notorious since the 19th century because of the number of individuals who have drowned there.

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 ...

s, like the one at Sandford Lasher, generate powerful circulating currents that can hold a victim (and often attempted rescuers) underwater at the base of the structure; hence their reputation as "drowning machines". Henry Fawcett, a student of

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

, drowned while swimming in May 1833. In February 1840, John Richardson Currer, brother of Charles Savile Roundell and student of

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

drowned in a boating accident, he was with Stephen Cave when their boat was swamped. Cave got safety while Currier was swept into the lasher pool and drowned. In November 1852, William Howe, a

Commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

at Jesus College drowned as Sandford. He and two other students of the same college where boating near the lasher when their boat overturned and filled with water. Howe was carried into the lasher, possibly already unconscious, while his companions managed to swim to the river bank. A 16-year-old pupil of the Cowley Diocesan School, Edward John Templar, the son of the Vicar of Great Coxwell, drowned on 21 May 1864 after diving into the water and saving the life of another boy, a non-swimmer who had accidentally fallen into the weirpool. Clarence Sinclair Collier, a 19-year-old student of Balliol College, drowned in June 1879. He and another student were boating above the weir, but the boat overturned and both they and the boat were carried by the current over the weir and into the lasher pool, where Collier drowned. He is commemorated by a memorial on the wall of the antechapel at Baliol College. At the weir, a 19th-century

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

records the deaths of five Christ Church students who drowned here - Richard Phillimore and William Gaisford in 1843; George Dasent in 1872 and Michael Llewelyn Davies an
Rupert Buxton
in 1921. William Gaisford was the son of

Thomas Gaisford Thomas Gaisford (22 December 1779 – 2 June 1855) was an English classical scholar and clergyman. He served as Dean of Christ Church from 1831 until his death. Early life Gaisford was born at Iford Manor, Wiltshire, the son of John Gaisford ...

, the dean of Christ Church. He got into difficulties while swimming on 23 June 1843. His friend, Richard Phillimore, entered the water to save him, but both young men drowned. Richard Phillimore was the son of Dr

Joseph Phillimore Joseph Phillimore (1775–1855) was an English civil lawyer and politician, Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford from 1809. Life The eldest son of Joseph Phillimore, vicar of Orton on the Hill, Leicestershire, by Mary, daughter of John Mach ...

, the Regius Professor of Civil Law. They are buried in Christ Church Cathedral and also commemorated by two memorial tablets in the north walk of the Cathedral cloisters. Michael Llewelyn Davies was the foster son of writer

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

, and one of the main inspirations for the character of

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

. He and Rupert Buxton, the son of Sir Thomas Buxton, 4th Baronet, both drowned on 19 May 1921 in the Sandford Lasher in reportedly calm water. Buxton had recently celebrated his 21st birthday and Llewelyn Davies was just short of his 21st birthday. The Sandford Lasher Weir is being used again to generate hydroelectric power making the memorial obelisk inaccessible. It may be viewed from various points around Sanford Pool, easily accessible from the Kennington side of the River Thames.

Reach above the lock

After the third island which is Fiddler's Elbow the river makes a sharp turn at Rose Isle. On the west bank is the town of Kennington, Oxfordshire. Further upstream are Kennington Railway Bridge where the Hinksey Stream joins the Thames again and

Isis Bridge Isis Bridge is a modern road bridge across the River Thames just south of Oxford, England. It carries the Oxford Ring Road, part of the A423 road, across the Thames on the reach between Sandford Lock and Iffley Lock. The bridge was built i ...

carrying the Oxford southern by-pass. 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 ...

follows the western bank to Iffley Lock crossing the Hinksey Stream on the Kennington Towpath bridge.

Hydroelectric power

Construction of Sandford Hydro, a hydroelectric power scheme began here in 2011, with the three Archimedes screws being operational from 2018.

Literature and the media

Sandford Lasher and its dangers are described in chapter 18 of

Jerome K Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humorist, best known for the comic Travel literature, travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections ''Idle Thoughts of an Idle F ...

's ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous novel by English writer Jerome K. Jerome describing ...

'' (1889).

The pool under Sandford lasher, just behind the lock, is a very good place to drown yourself in. The undercurrent is terribly strong, and if you once get down into it you are all right. An obelisk marks the spot where two men have already been drowned, while bathing there; and the steps of the obelisk are generally used as a diving-board by young men now who wish to see if the place really IS dangerous.

Jerome was a close personal friend of J.M. Barrie, and so probably knew Michael Llewelyn Davies. It is also mentioned in ''The Dictionary of the Thames'' by Charles Dickens, Jr.

It is notorious to all rowing men and habitue's of the river that Sandford Lasher has almost yearly demanded its tale of victims and it is almost inconceivable that people will continue year after year to tempt fate in this and other equally dangerous places

In Tom Brown at Oxford, by

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 1822 – 22 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had atte ...

, first published in 1861, the eponymous, principal character has a narrow escape after accidentally rowing a

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats, usually propelled by sails or oars. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for work, leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-pers ...

over the weir and into the lasher. Sandford Lock is briefly mentioned in '' The Four Feathers'' by A.E.W. Mason (1902). It is also briefly mentioned in the poem ''The Burden of Itys'' by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

References

External links

River Thames at Sandford Lock
at waterscape.com {{End box Locks on the River Thames Locks of Oxfordshire