Swineford Lock

Swineford lock
A weir with water flowing from right to left, surrounded by trees and vegetation.
Weir at Swineford

Swineford Lock is a canal lock situated on the River Avon, at the village of Swineford, England.

The Bristol Avon Navigation, which runs the 15 miles (24 km) from the Kennet and Avon Canal at Hanham Lock to the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth, was constructed between 1724 and 1727,[1] following legislation passed by Queen Anne,[2][3] by a company of proprietors and the engineer John Hore of Newbury. The first cargo of 'Deal boards, Pig-Lead and Meal' arrived in Bath in December 1727.[4] The navigation is now administered by the Canal & River Trust.

In its heyday, between 1709 and 1859 Swineford had an active brass and copper industry which were served by the river which also provided water power for the cloth industry.[5] The mill was later converted into a flock mill.[6]

  1. ^ "Bristol Avon Navigation". Inland Waterways Association. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Navigation of the river Avon". Bristol History.com. Archived from the original on 10 January 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2006.
  3. ^ Priestley, Joseph (1831). "Avon River, Gloucestershire" . Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green – via Wikisource.
  4. ^ Allsop, Niall (1989). The Kennet & Avon Canal (2 ed.). Millstream Books. p. 4. ISBN 9780948975158.
  5. ^ Allsop, Niall (1989). The Kennet & Avon Canal (2 ed.). Millstream Books. p. 17. ISBN 9780948975158.
  6. ^ Clew, Kenneth R. (1978). Wessex Waterway. Moonraker Press. pp. 59–60. ISBN 978-0239001818.