Mapledurham Lock
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.
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Locks on the River Thames
