Building record 502/1/12 - Watford Locks (Flight of 7 Locks & Side Ponds)

A staircase of four locks, part of a flight of seven locks on the Grand Union Canal. The locks were built between 1810-14 and were refurbished in 1902. The retaining walls are constructed from blue brick with stone coping with the wing walls at the top of the lock also of blue brick. The lock gates are of wood with steel balance beams to some locks. The paddle gear is 1902 but may incorporate some earlier work. West of the locks is a group of side ponds for the conservation of water. The Grand Union Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1810 with the Watford section opening in 1814.

{1} Staircase of 4 locks, as part of flight of 7 locks. Early C19, refurbished 1902 (datestones). Retaining walls blue brick with stone coping. Wing walls at top of flight blue brick. Wooden gates, balance beams in steel to some locks. C20 footbridges. The paddle gear is probably 1902 but may incorporate some earlier work. The gear is notable as being still connected to the paddle by wooden rods, mostly replaced elsewhere by metal rods (note from A.T. Conder, Curator, Waterways Museum, Stoke Bruerne.) West of the locks is a group of side ponds for conservation of water. The Grand Union Canal was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1810, the Watford section was opened in 1814.

{3} Watford Locks comprise seven locks; four form a staircase.

{6} Watford Locks is a group of seven locks formed, from the south, of two single locks, a staircase of four, and a final single lock. Together they lift the canal 16m (52 ft 6 in).
The locks were built to carry narrowboats, and the system was opened in 1814. In the early 20th century there were plans to build an inclined plane similar to that at Foxton as part of a scheme to allow the passage of barges, but the plan was abandoned when the inclined plane at Foxton proved uneconomic.
When the Grand Union Canal was formed in 1929, there were further proposals to widen the flight as part of the modernisation going on elsewhere on the Grand Union's network, but these plans did not develop further.
The locks are single beam and the gates are light.

{7} Undated photo;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 5/283 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), F04 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN44900.

<3> Starmer G.H., 1996, Some Transport Features Between Weedon and Junction 18 On The M1, (checked) (Report). SNN3582.

<4> FAULKNER A.H., 1972, The Grand Junction Canal, p.187-8+197 (unchecked) (Book). SNN55309.

<5> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 1996-2013, Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group Newsletter, Issue 117 p.5 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN55360.

<6> 2011, Our Transport Heritage - Heritage Locations - Watford Locks, (checked) (Website). SNN107436.

<7> Photographs of buildings in Watford (Photographs). SNN114136.

<8> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, Daventry, 11-MAR-1987, 1730, 107 (Report). SNN112993.

Record last edited

Aug 8 2023 4:18PM