Whitchurch Lock

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Whitchurch Lock
Whitchurch Lock with head gates open
Waterway	River Thames
County	Oxfordshire
Maintained by	Environment Agency
Operation	Hydraulic
First built	1787
Latest built	1876
Length	135’ 3” (41.22m)
Width	18’ 0” (5.48m)
Fall	3’ 4” (1.01m)
Above Sea Level	130'
Distance to Teddington Lock	61 miles

Whitchurch Lock
legend River Thames Goring Lock Goring Bridge Goring Mill island Gatehampton Railway Bridge island Child Beale Wildlife Trust River Pang Whitchurch Lock Whitchurch Mill Whitchurch Bridge River Thames

Whitchurch Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames in England. The lock is located in the Oxfordshire village of Whitchurch-on-Thames but the weir crosses the river to the Berkshire village of Pangbourne. Both lock and weir are owned and managed by the Environment Agency.

The long serving lock keeper is Brian Butcher who has worked on the river for more than forty years starting as an apprentice engineer for Bert Bushnell's hire fleet based in Maidenhead in the 1960s.

[edit] Access to the lock

Whitchurch Lock is one of the few locks on the River Thames which has no public access other than by boat.

[edit] Reach above the lock

The reach passes along the Chiltern Hills, culminating in Goring Gap. On the Oxfordshire side are Hartslock beech woods, named after a lock that was removed in 1910. On the Berksire side is Child Beale Wildlife Park. The Pangbourne Junior Sculls take place on the reach in November.

The Thames Path continues through Whitchurch and away from the river as it goes round Coombe Park, returning to the river at Hartslock. It continues on the Oxfordshire river bank to Goring.

[edit] See also

• Locks on the River Thames
• Rowing on the River Thames

Next lock upstream	River Thames	Next lock downstream
Goring Lock 1.07 miles	Whitchurch Lock Grid reference: SU634768	Mapledurham Lock 2.28 miles

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Coordinates: 51.48661° N 1.08830° W