Shepperton Lock is a

lock Lock(s) 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 entertainment * ''Lock ...

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, se ...

, in England by the

left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...

Shepperton Shepperton is an urban village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately south west of central London. Shepperton is equidistant between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village is mentioned in a document of 959 AD ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. It is across the river from

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

which is nearby linked by a passenger ferry. In 1813, the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

built the

pound lock A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...

and the short cuts (cuttings) – the nearer expanded an existing

meander cutoff A meander cutoff is a natural form of a cutting or cut in a river occurs when a pronounced meander (hook) in a river is breached by a flow that connects the two closest parts of the hook to form a new channel, a full loop. The steeper drop in grad ...

, beyond which lies a fresh cutting and old main stream of the river. These each have associated weirs. Shepperton Weir is between Shepperton Lock Island and

Hamhaugh Island Hamhaugh Island is an island, historically known simply as Stadbury, in the River Thames in England south of Shepperton Lock, in Shepperton, Surrey. Position The island is at the southernmost point of the River Thames. The garden-lined southern ...

; and Shepperton Upper Weir is between Hamhaugh Island and the Hamm Court riverside locality of

Addlestone Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement. History The town is recorded as ''Attels ...

, Surrey on the opposite bank. Upstream of the lock island is the Thames Court pub/restaurant on the near bank, downstream of

Pharaoh's Island Pharaoh's Island ( ar, جزيرة فرعون ''Jazīrat Fir‘aun''), whose current popular name is Coral Island, is a small island in the northern Gulf of Aqaba some east off the shore of Egypt's eastern Sinai Peninsula. Some scholars identif ...

which was given to

Lord Nelson Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British people, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strate ...

after the

Battle of the Nile The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; french: Bataille d'Aboukir) was a major naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the Navy of the French Republic at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the ...

in 1798. The lock is the fifth from the estuary of the river of a total of forty-five.

History

A weir is recorded at Shepperton in the 1086

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

and in the 14th century.'Shepperton: The hundred of Spelthorne (continued)', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3, ed. Susan Reynolds (London, 1962), pp. 1-12. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol3/pp1-12 A reference to a sluice or dam at Shepperton occurs in 1293 and tolls being raised on passing barges which would imply a

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 ...

. The lock was built in 1813 on the site of a small watercourse known as Stoner's Gut which ran across the

. Stoner's Gut had posed difficulties to navigation and barges usually went to Weybridge including from the 17th century up the

Wey and Godalming Navigations The River Wey Navigation and Godalming Navigation together provide a continuous navigable route from the River Thames near Weybridge via Guildford to Godalming (commonly called the Wey Navigation). Both waterways are in Surrey and are owned b ...

to the south. Various accounts at the end of the 18th century record flood waters using the gut and of a chapel built on piles over the river which was washed away. An alike event in one account washed away much of the main church of the town downstream by the river, prompting its being largely rebuilt in 1614. The gut was for a time dammed. In 1805 came the first suggestion for a lock. After strong opposition, the proposal was put forward again in 1809 and a wooden lock was subsequently built. A stone lock was built in 1899, next to the existing wooden one which was then filled in and removed. A small island upstream of the lock, was called Dog Ait at some point. This became corrupted into "Dockett" as in Dockett Eddy Lane. Dog Ait is shown on 19th century Ordnance Survey maps (1883, 1896) as being the previous name for Pharaoh's Island.

Access to the lock

The lock is on the left bank, and can be reached from a lane with two entrances having a name for its two halves, the eastern from Old Shepperton has a walkway, the lane adjoins the towpath (

Thames Path The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from its source 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 but it onl ...

). More than two parking areas exist. From the Weybridge side the lock can be reached by the ferry.

Reach above the lock

Immediately above the lock is

, a gift from the nation to

Admiral Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

following the

. It did not gain its name until the early 20th century. The left bank is more open and has riverside houses until

Dumsey Meadow Dumsey Meadow is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Chertsey and Shepperton in Surrey. It is the only piece of undeveloped water meadow unfenced by the river remaining on the River Thames below Caversham. This unimproved ...

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

.Biodiversity action Reporting System, Dumsey Meadow
The right bank is built up at the edge of

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in the ...

itself, has a

water meadows A water-meadow (also water meadow or watermeadow) is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. Working water-m ...

public park at Chertsey Meads with playground and a low-rise residential estate close to the lock, the Hamm Court riverside locality of

, Surrey.

Chertsey Bridge Chertsey Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England, connecting Chertsey to low-lying riverside meadows in Laleham, Surrey. It is downstream from the M3 motorway bridge over the Thames and is close to Chertsey Lock on the reach ...

crosses the river 210 metres below Chertsey Lock. The right bank weir pool at the top of the reach becomes the Abbey River, nearly adjoining the site of the Anglo-Saxon

Chertsey Abbey Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey. It was founded in 666 AD by Saint Erkenwald who was the first abbot, and from 675 AD the Bishop of London. At the same time ...

Chertsey Regatta Chertsey & Shepperton Regatta is a regatta on the River Thames in England which takes place on and by Dumsey Meadow near Chertsey, Surrey. History The regatta was inaugurated in 1851 and is one of the oldest on the river. Early records are sparse ...

in skiffing is held alongside Dumsey Meadow in August.

Sports and businesses

The opposite bank is close to two rowing clubs and a large canoeing and kayaking club. Weybridge Ait has a recreational rowing club, Weyfarers R.C. The

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

has a control centre and boats on the Lock Island. A nautical shop and boat repair business is on the near side.

Thames Path

The

changes to the left, northern ("Middlesex") bank to Chertsey Lock and passes through the sharp meander

, a site of Special Scientific Interest.

Literature and the media

The lock in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

Our Mutual Friend ''Our Mutual Friend'', written in 1864–1865, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, quo ...

'' at Plashwater Mill is based on Shepperton lock. In

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'' one of the main battles fought against the invaders from Mars takes place between Weybridge and Shepperton lock. The 1987

John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, best known for feature films such as ''Point Blank'' (1967), ''Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), ''Zardoz'' (1974), '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'' (1977), ...

film '' Hope and Glory'' was filmed at Shepperton lock.

Notes and references

;References ;Notes {{Spelthorne 1813 establishments in England Locks on the River Thames