Sandford Lock facts for kids
Approaching Sandford Lock from downstream
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| Waterway | River Thames |
|---|---|
| County | Oxfordshire |
| Maintained by | Environment Agency |
| Operation | Hydraulic |
| First built | 1631 |
| Latest built | 1973 |
| Length | 53.03 m (174 ft 0 in) |
| Width | 6.62 m (21 ft 9 in) |
| Fall | 2.69 m (8 ft 10 in) |
| Above sea level | 176' |
| Distance to Teddington Lock |
89 miles |
| Coordinates | 51°42′29″N 1°13′59″W / 51.708048°N 1.233104°W |
| Power is available out of hours | |
Sandford Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England, situated at Sandford-on-Thames which is just south of Oxford. The first pound lock was built in 1631 by the Oxford-Burcot Commission although this has since been rebuilt. The lock has the deepest fall of all locks on the Thames at 8ft 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 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 mediaeval 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 Oxford-Burcot Commission built one of the first pound locks in England here. The lock was passed on to the Thames Navigation Commission 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".
At the weir, a 19th-century obelisk records the deaths of five Christ Church students who drowned here.
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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 carrying the Oxford southern by-pass.
The Thames Path follows the western bank to Iffley Lock crossing the Hinksey Stream on the Kennington Towpath bridge.
Hydroelectric power
Construction of 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'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..
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 by A.E.W. Mason (1902). It is also briefly mentioned in the poem The Burden of Itys by Oscar Wilde.
