Mapledurham Lock

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Mapledurham Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames in England. It is owned and managed by the Environment Agency.

Despite its name, Mapledurham Lock is actually located in the Berkshire village of Purley-On-Thames, rather than in the Oxfordshire village of Mapledurham which is on the other side of the river. Although the weir stretches across the river between the two villages, no public access is possible across it and, in the absence of a boat, journeys between the two villages require a lengthy detour via Reading or Whitchurch-on-Thames.

Mapledurham lock and weir is unusual in that it still provides the dual functions that were originally the norm at lock and weir combinations on river navigations. Besides providing the depth of water that permits navigation upstream of the lock, the weir also provides a head of water to drive the still extant Mapledurham Watermill. As both mill and navigation are now principally tourist enterprises, this no longer leads to the sort of conflicts between milling and navigation interests that were once common.