Hanham Lock

{{Short description|Canal lock in Gloucestershire, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}

{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}

File:Hanhamlock.jpg

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

The Bristol Avon Navigation, which runs the {{convert|15|mi}} from the Kennet and Avon Canal at Hanham Lock to the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth, was constructed between 1724 and 1727,{{cite web | url=https://www.waterways.org.uk/waterways/canals_rivers/bristol_avon/bristol_avon |publisher= Inland Waterways Association | title= Bristol Avon Navigation|access-date=3 March 2013}} following legislation passed by Queen Anne,{{Cite web | title=Navigation of the river Avon | work=Bristol History.com | url=http://weldgen.tripod.com/bristol-history-com/id2.html | access-date=22 September 2006| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070110214011/http://weldgen.tripod.com/bristol-history-com/id2.html| archive-date = 10 January 2007}}{{cite wikisource |plaintitle=Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain |chapter=Avon River, Gloucestershire |last=Priestley |first=Joseph |year=1831 |publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green}} 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.{{cite book|last1=Allsop|first1=Niall|title=The Kennet & Avon Canal|date=1989|publisher=Millstream Books|isbn=9780948975158|edition=2|page=[https://archive.org/details/kennetavoncanalu0000alls/page/4 4]|url=https://archive.org/details/kennetavoncanalu0000alls/page/4}} The navigation is now administered by the Canal & River Trust.

Hanham Lock is the first lock east of Netham where boats leave the Bristol Floating Harbour. A weir carries the river and boats use the adjacent lock. It is numbered as 1 and is officially the first on the Kennet and Avon Canal. It opened in 1727 and there used to be a colliery wharf just west of the lock, however the mines closed in the 19th century.{{cite book|last1=Allsop|first1=Niall|title=The Kennet & Avon Canal|date=1989|publisher=Millstream Books|isbn=9780948975158|edition=2|page=[https://archive.org/details/kennetavoncanalu0000alls/page/17 17]|url=https://archive.org/details/kennetavoncanalu0000alls/page/17}}

The river below Hanham Lock is considered to be tidal, as high tides often pass over the weir at Netham. Some spring tides will also pass over the weir here, making the river tidal up to Keynsham Lock.Nicholson Waterways Guide, Volume 7, 2006, Harper Collins Publishers, {{ISBN|0-00-721115-5}}

The canal superintendent's house was built here, now a Grade II listed building; it is called "Picnic House".{{cite web | title=Picnic House | work=historicengland.org.uk | url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1116829 | access-date=2006-09-03}} In front of this house once stood Hanham Mills, an archway over the towpath being all that remained of the mills until 1897, when the Hanham Abbotts Parish Church had the archway demolished due to its poor state of repair.{{cite web | title=Hanham Abbots | work=South Gloucestershire Council | url=http://www.southglos.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/A8E30A2E-0D92-43CB-9285-7143DD6A83F0/0/HanhamAbbots.pdf | access-date=2006-09-03 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Just above the lock are some permanent and visitor moorings and two pubs.