Boveney Lock is a lock on the River Thames situated on the

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

bank opposite the Windsor Racecourse and close to Eton Wick.

Boveney Boveney is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, near Windsor. It is situated between the villages of Eton Wick in Berkshire, and Dorney and Dorney Reach in Buckinghamshire. Since boundary changes in 1974 and 1995, Boveney is the southernmost vil ...

is a village a little way upstream on the same side. The lock was first built in 1838 by the Thames Navigation Commission. 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 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 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 Roman times. Developme ...

at Gill's bucks 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 to

Queen's 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. The island is owned by Eton College and contains a club house that is available for hire for fu ...

, 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 is open fields with Dorney Lake behind. On the

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

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 Dedworth is the most westerly area of Windsor in Berkshire, England. History The name Dedworth is formed from the words 'Dydda', a man's name, and 'Worth', a Saxon word for enclosure. An irregular quadrangula moat in Wolf Lane may be all that rem ...

, a caravan park and Windsor Marina before

Oakley Court Oakley Court is a Victorian Gothic country house set in overlooking the River Thames at Water Oakley in the civil parish of Bray in the English county of Berkshire. It was built in 1859 and is currently a hotel. It is a Grade II* listed ...

, home of many Hammer horror 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. The island is owned by Eton College and contains a club house that is available for hire for fu ...

, owned by Eton College, opposite Bray Marina.

York Stream The Maidenhead Waterways are a system of canals in Maidenhead, England. Formerly disused, plans to restore and upgrade them were announced in 2011. The works would initially make the waterways navigable by small craft, and over time by larger cra ...

then joins the river from "The Cut" on the southern bank.

Summerleaze Footbridge The Summerleaze Footbridge is a footbridge across the River Thames in England linking Dorney, Buckinghamshire and Bray, Berkshire; it is about two miles downstream of Maidenhead Bridge, on the reach above Boveney Lock. The footbridge was bui ...

here was built as a gravel conveyor for the building of Dorney Lake and is now a pedestrian bridge. Monkey Island 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 Eton Excelsior Rowing Club is a rowing club, on the River Thames in England. It is on the Berkshire bank of the Thames at Bray, Berkshire, on the reach above Boveney Lock. The club was founded as an intermittent club in 1821 and formally establi ...

Thames Path

The Thames Path stays on the northern side of the river to Bray lock.

References