Boveney Lock
Telephone: 01753 862764
Postcode: SL4 6QQ
This lock is one of the busiest, most attractive and photographed, on the Thames. Little is known of the origins of the hamlet of Boveney, although we know there was an old fishery here dating back to 1201.
A little way upstream is the twelfth-century chapel of St Mary Magdalene, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Built of chalk rubble and flint, this little now-disused chapel was built for the bargemen and bargees that plied their trades on the Thames.
Lock keeper
David Gibson has been lock keeper here at Boveney since 1971. Formerly a motor mechanic, he started his river career as a summer assistant at Old Windsor Lock in 1959, and was promoted to Relief Lock Keeper at Boveney, Romney and Old Windsor. He then went to sea with P&O but found the call of the Thames too strong. He resumed at Romney Lock, and spent some time as a river boatman before taking up residency at Boveney.
'I was born with the river at the bottom of my garden,' says David, describing his love of the Thames. He adds, 'I love the isolation of lock keeping, but appreciate that only minutes away is Windsor town centre.'
An interesting fact
The original timber pound lock cost £2,877 to build, and the weir £1,053.
Location and facilities
For a map and a list of all the facilities at the lock visit...
> Location and facilties at Boveney Lock