OUR COMMUNITY - Teddington Lock

teddington lock

Teddington Lock - 51° 25' 54"N 0° 19' 26" W

Teddington Lock is manned 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

Teddington Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames in the town of Teddington in the western suburbs of London, England.

It is the highest point on the river to which tides penetrate, and is the boundary point between the Port of London Authority, which is the navigation authority downstream, and the Environment Agency, which is the navigation authority upstream. The lock itself is owned and managed by the Environment Agency.

Construction of the first of the three locks, the "old" lock, started in 1810 and finished with the completion of the weir in 1812. This original timber lock was repaired in 1825 and substantially rebuilt with foundation stones laid in 1856 and project completed in 1858. At this time the narrow skiff lock, (known as "the coffin"), was also added. The boat slide was added in 1869, and finally the barge lock, the largest lock on the river, built in 1904–1905. The two footbridges, the iron girder bridge linking Ham on the Surrey bank to the lock island, and the suspension bridge linking the island to Teddington were built between 1887 and 1889, funded by donations from local residents and businesses.

Early twenty-first century renovation and improvement work in the area around the locks was undertaken as part of the Thames Landscape Strategy Teddington Gateway project.

The lock was the location of the Monty Python Fish-Slapping Dance sketch.

 

 

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