Southcote 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 Navigation at Southcote near the town of Reading in

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 ...

, England. It has a rise/fall of .

History

Southcote Lock was built between 1718 and 1723 under the supervision of the engineer John Hore of Newbury. During the 18th century, a wire mill was built on the south side of the canal, on an island between the canal navigation and the natural course of the Kennet. This mill was supplied with bar iron from Sowley Forge in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

; both sites were operated by Charles Pocock Sr., Thomas Golden and Charles Pocock Jr. In 1850, a

pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses, are public utility buildings containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are critical in a variety of infrastructure systems, such as water supply, Land reclamation, ...

was built on the north side of the canal. The station was used to pump water to the Bath Road Reservoir in Reading to cater for the town's population expansion and provided the town its first filtered water supply. By 1878, maps showed that the wire mill was disused; the Pocock–Golden partnership had been dissolved over half a century earlier. In 1896, the Southcote Water Works (owned by the Reading Corporation) was superseded by the newly upgraded steam-powered station downstream at Fobney; Southcote's

water wheels A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blade ...

and pumps were

mothball Mothballs are small balls of chemical pesticide and deodorant, sometimes used when storing clothing and other materials susceptible to damage from silverfish, Mold (fungus), mold or moth larvae (especially clothes moths like ''Tineola bissell ...

ed. Three years later, however, the Southcote works were overhauled and new filters and pipes were installed. In 1952, Southcote Lock was deemed unsafe and was subsequently closed. The navigation reopened by the mid-1970s. The pumping station was in use until 1982 when Fobney was upgraded to cope with the town's demand; the main pumping building was converted into a residential dwelling and the wire mill remained derelict.

History

References

See also