Iffley Lock[1] Iffley Lock from downstream Waterway River Thames County Oxfordshire Maintained by Environment Agency Operation Hydraulic First built 1631 Latest built 1927 Length 154’ 1” (46.96m) Width 21’ 3” (6.47m) Fall 2’ 8” 0.81m Above sea level 178' Distance to Teddington Lock 91 miles Geographic data Coordinates 51°43′42.45″N 1°14′25.21″W / 51.7284583°N 1.2403361°W / 51.7284583; -1.2403361 [ v t e ] Iffley Lock Legend River Thames weir weir Godstow Lock Seacourt Stream --(to King's Lock) Oxford Canal Castle Mill Stream link to canal Oxford station A420 Botley Road Osney Lock and mill moorings Bulstake Stream Osney Rail Bridge A4144 Folly Bridge River Cherwell Railway bridge weir B4495 Donnington Bridge Iffley Lock and rollers Hinksey Stream x20px A423(T) Isis Bridge River Thames

Iffley Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England near the village of Iffley, Oxfordshire. It is on the southern outskirts of Oxford. The original lock was built by the Oxford-Burcot Commission in 1631 and the Thames Navigation Commission replaced this in 1793. The lock has a set of rollers to allow punts and rowing boats to be moved between the water levels.

In addition the lock and weir streams there is stream further to the east which used to be the Mill Stream.

The weir is downstream of the lock, where the weir stream is joined by the mill stream.

History[link]

A weir was owned by Lincoln College as early as 1302 and this weir may have carried the bridge which is referenced earlier than this. Iffley Lock was the pound lock furthest upstream that was built by the Oxford-Burcot Commission in 1631. In 1790 the Thames Commissioners took over Iffley and the other Oxford-Burcot locks at Sandford and Swift Ditch. The Commission rebuilt the lock in 1793, and the keeper was instructed to take tolls for "punts, pleasure boats, skiffs and wherries" at a charge of sixpence for punts and skiffs and one shilling for four oared craft. However access to the lock was awkward for barge traffic heading for the Thames and Severn Canal which had to enter backwards and take down their masts. Improvements and enlargements were made to the lock in 1802 and 1806 and the stone lockhouse was built in 1810. In 1826, it was ordered that no craft should pass through the lock during the hours of divine service. In the middle of the 19th century there was a problem with water levels below the water and a witness to a parliamentary enquiry reported that cows and horses were sometimes driven into the river to create sufficient draught. The lock was repaired in 1866, and ten years later the lock was being blamed for flooding in Oxford. Although the boat slide was promised in 1885, at the same time the Thames Conservancy were considering removing the lock. However there were many petitions to retain it and it survived.^[2] The latest rebuilding took place in 1927.

Access to the lock[link]

The lock can be reached on foot on the track from Donnington Bridge on the western side.

Reach above the lock[link]

College boathouses and Christ Church Meadow

Housing above Folly Bridge

The river at this point and around Oxford in general is sometimes known as the Isis. Donnington Bridge crosses the river upstream of the lock and then the River Cherwell joins the Thames on the northern side. The university college boathouses line the bank on the northern side, followed by Christ Church Meadow. This upstream stretch of the river is used for rowing, and is the location of the University rowing regattas of Torpids and Summer Eights. After Christchurch Meadow is Folly Bridge where are the landing stages for pleasure boats. After Folly Bridge, the river runs through suburbs where it is crossed by Grandpont Bridge. Beyond this is the Gasworks Bridge, a converted railway bridge, and the Osney Rail Bridge.

The Thames Path stays on the western side towards South Hinksey until it reaches Osney Lock.

See also[link]

UK Waterways portal

The lock from upstream

• Locks on the River Thames
• Rowing on the River Thames

References[link]

External links[link]

• Waterscape.com information
• Thames Path Online Guide

Coordinates: 51°43′52″N 1°13′37″W / 51.731°N 1.227°W / 51.731; -1.227

Iffley
240px St. Mary's parish church
Iffley  Iffley shown within Oxfordshire
OS grid reference	SP535037
District	City of Oxford
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Oxford
Postcode district	OX4
Dialling code	01865
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Oxford East
List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire

Iffley is a village in Oxfordshire, England, within the boundaries of the city of Oxford, between Cowley and the estates of Rose Hill and Donnington, and in proximity to the River Thames (Isis). Its most notable feature is its original and largely unchanged Norman church, St Mary the Virgin,^[1] which has a modern stained glass Nativity window designed by John Piper. The church is listed Grade I.

History[link]

"In the chronicles of Abingdon Abbey (AD 941 – 946) the place is called Gifteleia. The Domesday Book of 1086 it is Givetelei. Merton College records in the 1290s call it Iftele and Yiftele; it is Yeftley to the civil servants^{[clarification needed]} writing up the Domesday of Inclosures, in Latin, in 1517 – 18; Lincoln College accounts, written less formally and in English, have Ifley by 1543, and it is Iffley or Iflie during the Civil War 1642 – 46. Clearly, the sound of the name — at a time when spoken forms were dominant — was fixed by then. Afterwards the Y survived in occasional use, but only lawyers bothered with the T..."^[2]

The ending of the name of this village near Oxford, means "cleared ground": the Old English term for that was "ley" — just up the road from modern Iffley, the town of Cowley also preserves the Old English ending and meaning in its name.

No records of the foundation of Iffley have been found: an estimate of the date is about AD 1000–1050. The reason for the founding is clear from the location: Iffley has a little hill, and so is the first place downriver from Oxford from which traffic on the Thames might be surveyed, and controlled — and where people might be safe from floods:

"It is likely that the hill, running to 295 ft, now known as Rose Hill and Iffley, was a desirable place to live, safe from any floods. Many other villages, above and below, are set back from the river to cater for floods."^[2]

Map of Iffley Village

During the 12th century Oxford townsmen built a watermill at Iffley, which was bought by Lincoln College, Oxford in 1445: the mill burned in 1908, having survived for nearly 800 years. Products ground at the Iffley mill included malt, barley, corn, and other cereals — for a brief time during the 15th century it was a fulling mill. The mill,

"…was notorious for its arguments between bargees and millers, who being in possession of the lock, whether it was a flash or pound lock, could preserve their head of water, and not let it flow down river, by opening the gates, as long as they wished."^[2]

In 1156 Iffley was among the holdings of the Norman family of St. Remy, until about 1200. They established Iffley as a parish, and built the parish church, "in size and decorative splendour out of all proportion to the place".^[2] The manor was owned by many, thereafter. The Archdeacons of Oxford were given the right to appoint the parish priest in 1279: they held this until 1965, when the power was given to the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford.

Domesday Book entry[link]

People mentioned: Abbey of St Mary of Winchcombe; Aelfgifu; Alnoth; Alric; Alwine; Azur; Bondi; Brian; Cynewig; Earl Tosti; Earl Aubrey de Coucy of Northumbria; Edwin the sheriff; Henry de Ferrers; Hugh; Hugh d'Ivry; Hugh de Bolbec; Queen Edith; Ralph; Robert; Roger; Rolf; Swein; Turold; Walter; Walter Giffard; William Peverel; William de Warenne; William fitzAnsculf. Date: 1086^[3]

Notable people[link]

• Frank Bickerton (1889–1954) Antarctic explorer and First World War aviator was born in Iffley.^[4]

See also[link]

The village of Iffley has given its name to:

• Iffley College, the original name of Wolfson College
• Iffley Halt, a former station on the Wycombe Railway
• Iffley Lock on the River Isis
• Iffley Mill, locally famous for the spectacular fire that burnt it down in 1908
• Iffley Road in east Oxford

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1957). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5: Bullingdon Hundred. pp. 189–206. 
• Sherwood, Jennifer; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974). The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 658–662. ISBN 0-14-071045-0. 

v t e The City of Oxford Oxfordshire • County Council elections • City Council elections • Oxford East Borough Constituency • Oxford West and Abingdon County Constituency Wards, suburbs, neighbourhoods and districts Barton • Binsey • Cowley (Florence Park, Temple Cowley) • Cutteslowe • Donnington • Godstow • Grandpont • Headington (Headington Hill, New Headington, Old Headington) • Holywell • Iffley • Jericho • New Botley • New Hinksey • New Marston • Norham Manor • North Oxford (Central North Oxford, Park Town) • Northway • Osney • Port Meadow • St Clement's • St. Ebbes • St John Street area • St. Thomas' (Oxpens) •Science Area • Summertown • Sunnymead • Walton Manor • Wolvercote • Waterways Civil parishes Blackbird Leys (Greater Leys) • Littlemore (Rose Hill) • Old Marston • Risinghurst and Sandhills (Risinghurst, Sandhills, Barton, Headington Quarry, Wood Farm) Former district and borough County Borough of Oxford • Headington Rural District Former constituencies Oxford Borough Constituency • Oxfordshire County Constituency • Oxford University Constituency List of Parliamentary constituencies in Oxfordshire • List of places in Oxfordshire • List of civil parishes in Oxfordshire

External links[link]

Media related to Iffley at Wikimedia Commons