This lock took its name from the nearby dry dock in the Stroudwater Company's maintenance yard.
Completed in 1778, this is the second in a flight of five locks that carried the Stroudwater Canal up the hill past the village of Eastington, and it is the deepest. (Note the steep steps in the picture.) (For more about building the five locks, visit Building the Eastington Flight).
It was originally known as Court Orchard Lock after the field in which it was built. The name changed after the dry dock was built alongside in 1821. The dock was covered by a building with open arches facing the canal.
After the canal was closed in 1954, the lock gates were replaced by a concrete dam to maintain water levels suitable for anglers. Later much of the debris from the demolition of Pike Bridge was dumped into the lock, making life very difficult for the volunteers restoring the lock in 1989.
Dock Lock is the deepest lock on the canal with a fall of 11 feet 1 inches, whereas the fall at Newtown Lock at the top of the flight is only 7 feet 6 inches.
When a boat passed up or down the flight, the water needed by Dock Lock was more than that passed down by the shallower locks above, causing a reduction in the levels of the intervening pounds.
If this continued, heavily loaded vessels were liable to get stuck as locks were narrower at the bottom than at the top. To prevent this, the lock keeper had to open paddles to let extra water down from above, but some boats still got stuck.
When volunteers started to restore the lock in 1989, they first had to remove an infill of debris from the demolition of nearby Pike Bridge, including large blocks of reinforced concrete and long lengths of reinforcing rods.
Initially, they only had shovels, crowbars and winches to load the debris on to a mono-rail, but later they did have the benefit of an excavator and a dumper truck.
Lock building was 'in progress' in Jan 1778 - D1180/1/1 p183.
Building the dry dock from D1180/2/2 23 Dec 1820 to 16 Feb 1821.
Clearing Dock Lock from Trow magazine Sep 1989.
