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St John's Lock

Locks on the River ThamesPersonifications of riversTourist attractions in GloucestershireUse British English from November 2017
StJohnsLock
StJohnsLock

St John's Lock, below the town of Lechlade, Gloucestershire, is the furthest upstream lock on the River Thames in England. The name of the lock derives from a priory that was established nearby in 1250, but which no longer exists. The lock was built of stone in 1790 by the Thames Navigation Commission. The main weir is downstream, just below St John's Bridge, where the River Cole and the River Leach join the Thames on opposite banks. A statue of Old Father Thames by Raffaelle Monti is outside the lock house. The statue was commissioned in 1854 for The Crystal Palace's grounds, was later moved to the traditional source of the Thames at Thames Head, and then in 1974 relocated to St John's Lock. The statue is Grade II listed.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article St John's Lock (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

St John's Lock
Lechlade Road, Vale of White Horse

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Wikipedia: St John's LockContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.68932 ° E -1.68025 °
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Lechlade Road
GL7 3HA Vale of White Horse
England, United Kingdom
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Halfpenny Bridge
Halfpenny Bridge

Halfpenny Bridge is a bridge across the River Thames, at Lechlade, Gloucestershire, England. The bridge and its toll house are a Grade II listed building. It marks the start of the navigable Thames, although if the waters are high, the Thames can continue to be travelled by small and unpowered craft as far as Cricklade, over 10 miles (16 km) South-west. The bow-backed bridge was built to a design of James Hollingworth in 1792. It carries the A361 from the south into Lechlade. It was called the Halfpenny bridge because that was the toll charged for pedestrians to cross it, until the toll was done away with in 1839. The A361 is called Thames Street at this point, and the bridge was built when Thames Street was laid out. The structure is around 20 feet (6 m) wide and the single arch is nearly 26 feet (8 m) high to its apex. On the north bank of the river, a small square toll house is attached to the bridge on the downstream side. It consists of a basement and a room at road level, with a pyramidal asbestos slate roof. Both the bridge and the toll house are grade II listed. It is thought that a local firm of builders called Ralph and Crowdy were responsible for its construction. There is a separate arch in the south causeway, through which the towpath passes, and both parapets carry a central panel with a line on it, to mark the county boundary between Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. In June 2023, a driver crashed into the eastern parapet causing substantial damage to the structure. The bridge is expected to remain closed to traffic for some months.A local micro-brewery based in Lechlade, The Halfpenny Brewery, is named after the bridge.