ROYDON LOCK
Lock |
State |
Date |
Length |
Length - Working Distance |
Width |
Fall |
Roydon Lock |
Built turfsided |
1766/9 |
89' 6'' |
87' 0'' |
13' 5 1/2' |
7' 0'' |
Roydon Lock |
Rebuilt in brick/concrete |
1913 |
89' 6'' |
87' 0'' |
13' 5 1/2' |
7' 0'' |
Griggs’ Report
1844: No 3 Lock called Lakes or Colemans Lock. A cart bridge attached to
it old but in fair condition. Depth of water on the lower sill 4’ 0’’;
headway under the bridge 5’ 9’’; lower gates in good repair. Brickwork
under bridge in good order except stopping and pointing wanted on one
side. Side timbers and lock piles indifferent. The upper gates and the
brickwork around them in very bad repair. Mr Seymour is preparing new
and with the exception of the lower part of this lock it is in bad
condition. Depth of water on the upper sill 4’ 8’’. No 2 Lock house at
Lakes or Colemans Lock in good repair.
Beardmore’s
Report 1870: Roydon Lock is in bad repair
Childs’ Report 1880:
Roydon; Upper gates & woodwork very bad & requires renewal urgently.
Sides of lock open and dilapidated. Lower gates old & require renewal.
Brickwork bad. Altogether in bad repair and should have £500 spent on it
within a couple of years. (Lock house) 2 stories, basement brick, upper
story plaster, in fair condition.
Childs' Report 1884: ''Upper gates and woodwork very bad and
requires renewal urgently; sides of lock open and dilapidated. Lower
gates old and require renewal. Brickwork bad. Altogether in bad repair
and should have £500 spent on it within a couple of years, plenty
of depth over the sill. Lock-house: 2 stories high, Basement Brick,
upper storey plaster, in fair condition.
Tween's Report 1901: "Upper gates and woodwork very bad and
requires renewal urgently; sides of lock open and dilapidated. Lower
gates new 1900. Brickwork, fair order, to renew cost £300. Lower sill
requires lowering about 1 foot. Lock-house: Two stories high, Basement
Brick, upper storey plaster, in fair condition"
The lock has previously
been known as Lake’s Lock (in 1772) and Coleman’s Lock (1812-1833).
John Coleman was the Collector of Tolls, who lived in the original lock
house. The house continued in the occupation of the Coleman family up to
the 1860’s. There is no puzzle over the current name.
There is a brick-built
4-stall stable on the towpath side of the lock with a stone plaque
"Erected 1864 J. P. Davis R.S.N Surveyor"
The photograph above shows
the turf-sided lock with what appears to be a maintenance barge in the
chamber. This suggests a date of about 1911, after the Stort was taken
over by the Lee Conservancy, since little maintenance was carried out in
the latter years of the privately owned Navigation. It is possible that
the men were engaged in the renovation programme that lasted from 1911
until 1923.
The image below shows
the original 1787 lock house. It is larger than the others, housing
the collector as well as the lock keeper.


Set in the wall of the
downstream end of the present house, built in the 1960's, there is a
crest dated 1787 with the arms of George Jackson (Duckett), the first
sole proprietor of the Stort Navigation, rescued from the original
house. The plaque can be seen just under the eaves in the photograph
above.
Roydon Lock House
Census/Date |
Name |
Title |
Wife |
Location given by
enumerator/Comments |
Source Reference |
27.2.1950 |
George Calverley |
Lock keeper |
£4.15.0 at start rising to £7.14.11 (no date) |
LCB Records |
1.4.1939 |
Edgar White |
Lock keeper |
To £1.7.0 |
NA Rail 845/123 |
1.4.1938 |
Edgar White |
Lock keeper |
£1.5.0 to £1.6.0 |
NA Rail 845/122 |
28.4.1937 |
Edgar White |
Lock keeper |
Appointed ex Brick Lock |
NA Rail 845/121 |
28.4.1937 |
A T Clark |
Lock keeper |
Unsatisfactory as Lock keeper |
NA Rail 845/121 |
12.2.1937 |
Albert Thomas Clark (46) |
Lock keeper |
Naval pensioner appointed
(1.1.1937), at21/- per week with house and uniform |
NA Rail 845/121 |
12.2.1937 |
W J Rosendale |
Lock keeper |
Retired |
NA Rail 845/121 |
6.11.1936 |
W Rosendale (68) |
Lock keeper |
25 years service |
NA/Rail 845/120 |
8.1.1932 |
F Fitch |
Temporary Lock keeper |
Appointed at 24/- per week plus
fares from Sawbridgeworth |
NA Rail 845/115 |
8.1.1932 |
W Rosendale |
Lock keeper |
Ill for some time |
NA Rail 845/115 |
5.10.1928 |
W Rosendale |
Lock keeper |
Increase to £1.1s (minimum wage) |
NA Rail 845/112 |
14.11.1919 |
W Rosendale |
Lock keeper |
19/- + house, garden, and uniform
|
NA/Rail 845/46 |
5.2.1918 |
W Rosendale |
Lock keeper |
17/- per week |
NA/Rail 845/66 |
4.3.1915 |
W Rosendale |
Lock keeper |
+2/- per week |
NA Rail 845/42 |
24.12.1912 |
W Rosendale |
Lock keeper |
13/- to 15/- per week |
NA/Rail 845/39 |
13.10.1911 |
W Rosendale |
Lock keeper |
Into the service of the Board at
13/- per week |
NA/Rail 845/38 |
2.4.1911 |
William Rosendale (41) |
Lock keeper |
Ada (plus 9 children) |
Roydon Lock near Ware |
RG14PN9801 RG78PN517 RD189 SD3 ED8 SN5 |
31.3.1901 |
Edmund T Higgins (77) |
Lock keeper |
Jane |
Roydon Lock |
Ex/Roydon/8/2 |
5.4.1891 |
Edmund
Higgins (67) |
Lockman |
Jane |
Lock house |
Ex/Roydon/12/20 |
4.4.1881 |
William Searle (54) |
Carpenter & Lock keeper |
Frances |
Stort Lock |
Ex/Roydon/10/2 |
4.4.1881 |
Thomas A Searle (15) |
Lockboy |
~ |
Stort Lock |
Ex/Roydon/10/2 |
2.4.1871 |
William Searle (44) |
Carpenter & Lock keeper |
Frances |
Stort Lock House
(son - Thomas 5yrs) |
Ex/Roydon/10/1 |
8.4.1861 |
George Coleman (57) |
Collector on the R Stort |
Mary |
|
Ex/Roydon/10/1 |
8.4.1861 |
James Coleman (26) |
Lock keeper |
~ |
|
Ex/Roydon/10/1 |
8.4.1861 |
George Burtroupe (17) |
Asst Lock keeper |
~ |
|
Ex/Roydon/10/1 |
30.3.1851 |
George Coleman (47) |
Toll Collector |
Mary Ann |
Lock house (son - James C 16 yrs) |
Ex/Roydon/10/2 |
7.6.1841 |
George Coleman (35) |
Collector of Stort Tolls |
Mary A |
(son - James C 6yrs) |
Ex/Roydon /10/1 |
11.6.1833 |
John Coleman |
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Roydon Lock House |
Essex RO D/DU 289/52 |
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