Ryeford Double Locks

This project will see the restoration of the historic and listed Ryeford Double Locks on the Stroudwater Canal.

Ryeford is one of a small number of double staircase locks in the UK. Staircase locks have 2 or more lock chambers directly connected to each other, ie the top gates of the lower lock also act as the bottom gates of the one above.

We know of only 7 double locks on existing navigable canals on the entire BW network – 3 on wide canals and 4 on narrow; only 2 of these can be found in the south with no others in the south west. There may be others on redundant canals but these are not known at the moment.

As part of the restoration of the Stroudwater Canal, the project team is looking to restore the lock using a mixture of volunteers, consultants and heritage specialists.