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Restoring Southland Lock on the Wey & Arun Canal

15th Mar 2010

The Wey & Arun Canal Trust is now turning its attention to the next major extension to the navigable section of the Wey & Arun Canal. With Devils Hole Lock virtually complete and ready for its formal reopening on 17 April, the Trust is launching an appeal for reconstruction of the next lock North – Southland.

Restoration of Southland Lock is, in effect, a complete rebuild. The only visible remains are the iron quoins (hinge posts) for the bottom gates, and because a badger sett is located at the foot of the original lock, it is planned to build a replacement lock about 10m away from the badger sett.

Southland Lock was originally built of bricks, rather than the local stone used for the locks further south. The bricks were recycled in the 1930s, reportedly by the Cokelers, a Loxwood-based religious community, who sold the bricks to a Cranleigh builders’ merchant.

Plans include a badger bridge

The plans are to use bricks for the new lock chamber, probably the locally-produced Weinerberger red multi stock, as used successfully by the Trust for the Loxwood road crossing project.

Gates will be of Ekki, a long-lasting environmentally-friendly tropical hardwood from sustainable sources. The same material will be used to provide a bridge giving access across the canal for the badgers.

As with all of the restored and rebuilt locks currently in use, an electric pump, with the associated power supply, will be installed, to return water to the pound above the lock.

The detailed plans for the lock, bridges and surrounding landscape still have to be drawn up, and will be produced in full consultation with interested parties, including the riparian owners and the Sussex Badger Group. The dimensions, slightly longer and wider than the original, will comply with Association of Inland Navigation Authorities guidelines.

Even using mainly volunteer labour, the cost is estimated at around £300,000, which will be met by the Trust’s own fundraising activities.

Find more information on the Wey & Arun Canal Trust

Last updated: 18/03/2010

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