Sandford 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 in England, situated at

Sandford-on-Thames Sandford-on-Thames, also referred to as simply Sandford, is a village and Parish Council beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire just south of Oxford. The village is just west of the A4074 road between Oxford and Henley. Early history In 1086 ...

which is just south of Oxford. 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 of 1605 by James I to make the stretch of river from Burcot to Oxford navigable. The Commission took respons ...

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 Kennington is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire, just south of Oxford. The village occupies a narrow stretch of land between the River Thames and the A34 dual carriageway. It was in Berkshire until ...

side. This is the location of the infamous Sandford Lasher, a treacherous weirpool where many have drowned. Another weir links the two lower islands.

History

There was a mill here built by the Knights Templar in around 1294. There are also records of a ferry and a fish weir in medieval times. In the reign of Edward III 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 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 locks on the river in the 18th and early 19th centuries History The ...

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. Weirs, like the one at Sandford Lasher, generate powerful currents that can trap and 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 (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

, drowned while swimming in May 1833. John Richardson Currer, brother of

Charles Savile Roundell Charles Savile Roundell (19 July 1827 – 3 March 1906) was an English cricketer, lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1880 and 1895. Roundell was born at Clifton House, County York the son of Rev ...

and student of

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

drowned in February 1840 while attempting to row a skiff through the lasher pool. A 16-year-old pupil of the Cowley Diocesan School, Edward John Templar, the son of the Vicar of

Great Coxwell Great Coxwell is a village and civil parish southwest of Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse, England. It was in Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's population as 2 ...

, 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 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, 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, 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. 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 (see below) 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. Sandford-Hydro 171101 110832 (2)

Reach above the lock

After the third island which is Fiddler's Elbow the river makes a sharp turn at

Rose Isle Rose Isle is an island in the River Thames in England just downstream of Kennington Railway Bridge on the reach above Sandford Lock, near Kennington, Oxfordshire. The island is tree-covered and has a narrow channel behind it crossed by a footbr ...

. On the west bank is the town of

. Further upstream are Kennington Railway Bridge where the

Hinksey Stream Hinksey Stream is a branch of the River Thames to the west of the city of Oxford, England. It starts as Seacourt Stream (also known as Wytham Stream), which leaves the Thames at a bifurcation north of the village of Wytham, and rejoins the r ...

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 ...

carrying the Oxford southern by-pass. The

Thames Path The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from its source near Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Woolwich foot tunnel, south east London. It is about long. A path was first proposed in 1948 but it only opened in 1996. Th ...

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

Hydroelectric power

Construction of

Sandford Hydro Sandford Hydro is a small hydroelectric scheme located on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England. It uses the head of water provided by the weir at Sandford Lock in Sandford-on-Thames, but is actually situated on the opposite bank of the riv ...

, a hydroelectric power scheme began here in 2011, with the three

Archimedes screw The Archimedes screw, also known as the Archimedean screw, hydrodynamic screw, water screw or Egyptian screw, is one of the earliest hydraulic machines. Using Archimedes screws as water pumps (Archimedes screw pump (ASP) or screw pump) dates back ...

s 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 humourist, best known for the comic travelogue '' Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) ...

's '' Three Men in a Boat'' (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. Charles Culliford Boz Dickens (6 January 1837 – 20 July 1896) was the first child of the English novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine. A failed businessman, he became the editor of his father's magazine '' All the Year Round'', and ...

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, first published in 1861, the eponymous, principal character has a narrow escape after accidentally rowing a skiff over the weir and into the lasher. Sandford Lock is briefly mentioned in ''

The Four Feathers ''The Four Feathers'' is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901, ''Cornhill Magazine'' announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in t ...

'' by A.E.W. Mason (1902). It is also briefly mentioned in the poem ''The Burden of Itys'' by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

References

External links

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