Shiplake to Sonning, Shiplake to Marsh, Environment Agency 'Out and About' Guides
Maps
Left bank, length: 133'4", width: 18'3"
1404: -
Elizabeth, Prioress of Goring has a lock in the water of Thames [below] Shiplake, of such height and width that all men with shouts and barges and kidels can pass thereby without danger as of old time.
1585: Bishop – Shiplake Lock “kept by
Rd. Cotterell and belongs to the Crown”.
1746: Griffiths – “Cottrell’s Lock”.
1773: Shiplake Pound Lock opened (built in fir).
1775: Bowen’s Map – “Cotterill’s”.
1787: Lock rebuilt in oak.
1790: Ireland –
Cotterell’s Mill and Lock – a very picturesque scene, highly deserving observation.
1794: Rennie on Shiplake mills – “one is
a paper and the other a corn mill”.
1811: The Thames
Shiplake Lock and Watermill, 1811
The several objects which are represented in the [above] engraving, compose a very pleasing picture. They consist of a Lock and Paper Mill, on the Thames, in the parish of Shiplake, in the county of Oxford; and the residence of Joseph Hill, Esq. in the parish of Wargrave, in the county of Berks, which is remarkable for the extent, beauty, and variety of its prospect.
1874: Shiplake Lock entirely rebuilt.
1881: George Leslie -
To return to Shiplake Mill and Lock. The mill is a fine specimen of a Thames mill, having plenty of nice woodwork about it; the lock is at present kept by an old man-of-war’s man, who has erected a flagstaff in his garden, and hoists the colours on it in orthodox fashion. Little camping parties are here generally found; the view of the mill from the weir water behind the lock is a good one, and the whole of this water with its eyots will repay inspection.
1885: weir rebuilt. Fred Thacker says –
The old weir was higher upstream than the present one; extending diagonally across from the danger post to the little promontory above on the right bank, where the tall trees stand and an iron capped pile.
1889: Lock Island purchased by the Corporation of London for pleasure camping.
1889: A S Krausse, A Pictorial History of the Thames -
Shiplake Lock boasts of a flag-staff, from which the keeper, Constantine by name, a very popular ex-navy man, flies his flag on suitable occasions. The Lock Island, and the banks of the weir pool alongside, provide exceptionally convenient spots for camping, a fact which is taken advantage of by innumerable parties, who may be seen during the summer months making the scene animated with their tents. Intending campers should communicate wth Constantine at the Lock.
1890: Shiplake from weir bridge, Francis Frith -
1890: Shiplake from weir bridge, Francis Frith
[ You can see the Corporation of London camping site established the previous year. ]
1890: Below Shiplake Lock, Francis Frith -
1890: Below Shiplake Lock, Francis Frith
1890: Below Shiplake Mill and Lock, Francis Frith
1890: Below Shiplake Mill and Lock, Francis Frith
1895: Shiplake Lock and Mill, Henry Taunt -
Shiplake Lock and Mill, Henry Taunt, 1895
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; HT08318
1907: Shiplake Mill demolished –
being in a ruinous condition and no tenant obtainable.
1955: Shiplake Lock, Francis Frith -
1955: Shiplake Lock, Francis Frith
1960: Shiplake Lock is the first Thames lock to have a Hydraulic system installed.
1999: Above Shiplake Lock -
Above Shiplake Lock.
2011: SHIPLAKE Lock named the best-kept lock on the Thames -
In the Environment Agency’s Thames Waterways Awards ...
Lock-keeper Geoff Horsnell, who has run the lock for the past 20 years, said he was delighted.
“For Shiplake to be voted the best kept lock by users of the river is a great honour,” he said.
“I really am very flattered. I look after all the plants and flowers myself but, being a keen gardener,
it gives me great satisfaction and it really is a labour of love.
The flowers come out in the summer and go back in the winter every year
and it is very satisfying to know that they are enjoyed by the boating fraternity.”
1881: George Leslie -
Above the lock, Shiplake is passed; it stands away from the river on the top of a small hill; some nice houses, and the church, are all I have ever seen of it. The view from the church is fine; this church is celebrated as being the one in which our Poet Laureate was married.
1889: Jerome K Jerome -
Shiplake is a pretty village, but it cannot be seen from the river, being upon the hill. Tennyson was married in Shiplake Church.
Phillimores Island
Right Bank
1881: George Leslie -
There is an island just above Shiplake weir; the
best punting course is to make for this island, passing on the Berkshire side,
then cut across to the Oxford side on which the tow-path is,
making as straight a course as you can. I mention this, as the other side by the
tow-path is longer, and the ground very muddy.
But the punting is not good anywhere until you get above the island, the
water being all very deep.
[ George Leslie was used to boats being towed -
which is something we never see today - the towpaths are certainly far too
overgrown for one thing, and the traditions of how to do it, and how to pass
another boat, have been lost ] -
For those towing, there is near here a very
awkward place, like many others of the same description on the river, wherever
a sharp bend occurs, and the tow-path runs a good way in shore, with a large
swampy piece of sedges and rushes between it and the river edge; what usually
happens is, that the tracker walks along until he has passed these rushes, and
finds himself suddenly brought to a standstill by the boat having become jammed
into the soft bank. Those
in the boat endeavour to push off, but each time they do so, the tracker pulls
them in again. The proper way to pass
these bits, is for the tracker to stop when he comes to the commencement of the
objectionable piece, and for the people in the boat to commence at once to row
or shove, the tracker walking slowly along, keeping level with the boat, and
holding the line slack.
Shiplake College, Left Bank
The Lynch
Hallsmead Ait
Buck Ait
1632: John Taylor - "Haules Weare?"
Shiplake, Ashley Bryant
Maps
Right bank. The flow is away from the Thames. There may be a small (3") weir.
See downstream of Shiplake Lock for details of St Patrick’s Stream.
1887: the Shiplake Miller complained that “Patrick Stream eel-bucks
pen up the stream”
1881: George Leslie warns -
the place [the entrance into St Patrick’s Stream] is so concealed with rushes, that in coming down, if you do not look well out for the little foot-bridge, it is most likely you will miss it altogether.
[ No footbridge in 2004, nor tiny weir. ]
1920: Fred Thacker -
There is a persistent tradition that, before
Shiplake weir was heightened and the lock built, penning the water above its
previous level and so forcing it backward, the outfall called Patrick Stream
was one of three infalls or mouths of the curiously lonely Loddon.
I notice on revisiting the spot in 1919 that the angle formed by the
stream with the river is characteristic of a tributary, and not of a outfall.
Entrance into St Patrick’s Stream (No Launches) Canoes & punts only!
2002: I quote, without comment, from my own log of a trip in 2002 -
As I was punting silently around one of the large bends in the river at this point I was skirting a large reed bed, leaving perhaps only a foot of clear water. Suddenly I saw that the reeds had been neatly cut back and there was a step and cutting back in the reeds towards the bank. I turned to look up this cutting and came face to er … face with a completely nude dark skinned man standing a couple of feet higher than me, about to dive into the river. We were both so surprised we neither of us had time to react. But I am definitely sure it was a man.
1881: George Leslie -
All the way up from Shiplake to Sonning the stream is exceedingly strong, the river bending and twisting considerably, with a number of eyots situated in the sharp turns. Much ingenuity on the part of the punter is called for in taking advantage of the many eddies; it is one of the great attractions of punting, that the very sharpness of the stream against you always has its counter balance in your favour by the many eddies; in these bends, with a proper knowledge of the ground, a punter can easily hold his own against an ordinary rowing boat, which must necessarily keep oar’s length from the bank. For my own part I prefer punting against the stream to going with it, provided I am in no hurry, as the art is far more varied and scientific.
1889: Jerome K Jerome -
The river below Sonning winds in and out
through many islands, and is very placid, hushed, and lonely.
Few folk, except at twilight, a pair or two
of rustic lovers, walk along its banks.
`Arry and Lord Fitznoodle have been left behind at Henley, and dismal,
dirty Reading is not yet reached.
It is a part of the river in which to dream of bygone days,
and vanished forms and faces, and
things that might have been, but are not, confound them.
(Sonning Bridge)
Estuary
PLA
QEII Br
Barrier
Tower Br
Custom Ho
London Br
; Frost Fairs
Cannon St Rb
The Great Stink
Southwark Br
Millenium Br
Blackfriars Rb
Blackfriars Br
Waterloo Br
Charing Cross Rb
Westminster Br
Lambeth Br
Vauxhall Br
Victoria Rb
Chelsea Br
Albert Br
Battersea Br
Battersea Rb
Wandsworth Br
Fulham Rb
Putney Br
Hammersmith Br
Barnes Rb
Chiswick Br
Kew Rb
Kew Br
RICHMOND
Twickenham Br
Richmond Rb
Richmond Br
TEDDINGTON
Kingston Rb
Kingston Br
Ditton Slip
Hampton Br
MOLESEY
SUNBURY
Walton Br
Desborough Cut
SHEPPERTON
Chertsey Br
CHERTSEY
M3 Br
Laleham Slip
PENTON HOOK
Staines Rb
Staines Br
Runnymede Br
BELL WEIR
Magna Carta Is
OLD WINDSOR
Albert Br
Datchet
Victoria Br
Black Potts Rb
ROMNEY
Eton
Windsor Br
Windsor Rb
Windsor Slip
Elizabeth Br
BOVENEY
Dorney Lake
York Cut
Summerleaze Fb
MonkeyIsland
New Thames Br
BRAY
Bray Slip
Maidenhead Rb
Maidenhead Br
Below Boulters
BOULTERS
Cliveden
Hedsor
COOKHAM
Cookham Slip
Cookham Br
BourneEnd RFb
Quarry Woods
A404 Br
MARLOW
Marlow Br
Bisham
TEMPLE
HURLEY
Medmenham
Culham Ct
Aston Slip
HAMBLEDEN
Temple Is
Fawley Ct
Remenham
Regatta
Phyllis Ct
Henley Slip
Leander
Red Lion
Henley Br
Angel on Br
Landing
Hobbs Boatyard
Hobbs Slipway
MARSH
Hennerton
Bolney
Wargrave
Shiplake Rb
R.Loddon
SHIPLAKE
Sonning Br
SONNING
Dreadnought
K&A Canal
CAVERSHAM
Reading Br
Caversham Br
Reading Slip
Purley
MAPLEDURHAM
Hardwick Ho
Whitchurch Br
WHITCHURCH
Hartswood Reach
Gatehampton Rb
Goring Gap
Goring Br
GORING
Swan
CLEEVE
Moulsford
Moulsford Rb
Papist Way Slip
Winterbrook Br
Wallingford Br
BENSON
Shillingford Br
R.Thame
DAYS
Burcot
Clifton Hampden
Clifton Church
Clifton H Br
Barley Mow
Long Wittenham
CLIFTON
Appleford Rb
Sutton Courtenay
Sutton Br
CULHAM
Culham Cut Fb
Abingdon Slip
Abingdon
Abingdon Br
ABINGDON
Nuneham Rb
Nuneham
Nuneham Park
Radley Boats
SANDFORD
Rose Island
Kennington Rb
Isis Br
Iffley Mill
IFFLEY
Oxford Rowing
Isis
Donnington Br
Riverside Slip
Boathouses
Punting
Lower Cherwell
Upper Cherwell
Islip
Head of River
Salters Steamers
Folly Br
Bacons Folly
Oxford Fb
Osney Fb
Weir stream
Osney Rb
Bullstake Stream
Osney Marina
OSNEY
Osney Br
Four Rivers
OLD RIVER
CANAL
Medley Weir Site
Medley Fb
Bossoms
Perch
Trout
GODSTOW
Godstow Nunnery
Godstow Br
Thames Br
KINGS
River Evenlode
EYNSHAM
Swinford Br
Oxford Cruisers
PINKHILL
Farmoor
Stanton Harcourt
Bablock Slip
Arks Weir Site
NORTHMOOR
Harts Fb
//Rose Revived
Newbridge
//Maybush
River Windrush
below Shifford
SHIFFORD
Shifford Fb
Tenfoot Fb
Trout Inn
Tadpole Br
RUSHEY
Old Mans Fb
RADCOT
Radcot Cradle Fb
Swan Inn
Radcot New Br
Radcot Old Br
GRAFTON
Eaton Hastings
Kelmscott
Eaton Fb
BUSCOT
Bloomers Hole Fb
Trout Inn
St Johns Br
ST JOHNS
Halfpenny Br
Marina Slip
LIMIT
Inglesham
Hannington Br
Kempsford
Castle Eaton Br
Marston Meysey
A419 Br
Cricklade
SOURCE?
THAMES HEAD
SEVEN SPRINGS