The history and replacement of lock gates

Abstract

Wooden canal lock gates require routine replacement after around 30 years. From the 1960s in England, there was a move by the then waterway authority, British Waterways (now the Canal and River Trust), towards standardisation to make construction simpler and cheaper. Today, the conservation of the individual character of each canal has been identified as a way of encouraging greater use of canals. However, the return of lock gate design to its historic form is sometimes seen as unsuitable for locks that have statutory protection. Information about the original design and subsequent alterations of lock gate construction for individual canals should be an important factor in deciding what type of replacement gates should be used. This paper looks at the history of navigational locks, putting their development into an international context. It then considers the reasons for replacing lock gates with those of a traditional design, and the archive material available for the replication of wooden lock gates in England.