Lock 5 At Tf 060986, Caistor Canal

Lock 5 on the Caistor Canal, built around 1793 to 1795, is a canal lock made of fine large blocks of ashlar with cast-iron fittings. The lock chamber measures approximately 14 feet wide and 60 feet long, likely designed to accommodate Humber Keels, the typical boats used on waterways leading to the Humber. The sides of the lock feature recesses for paddles within the upper gate recesses, with tunnels that direct water around the gates into the chamber. There are no corresponding tunnels at the lower end, suggesting that the paddles were likely part of the missing gates. At the top of each lock pivot, cast-iron brackets are set into the stonework, and some square iron surrounds to the tunnel entrances, which would have been in contact with the paddles, are still intact. There is minor displacement of some stonework due to sapling growth.

Historically, the Caistor Canal was constructed under an Act of Parliament in 1793, following a survey by engineer William Jessop in 1792. The canal was disused by 1877 and originally ran from the River Ancholme Navigation eastward towards Caistor, although only about half of it was built, reaching the village of Moortown, a distance of approximately 4.5 miles. 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps indicate six locks along the canal. By the 1960s, the highest lock near the basin at Moortown had completely disappeared, along with any remnants of a wharf, basin, or buildings that may have existed at that end. However, the other five locks remain largely intact, though they lack gates and paddle gear. This series of locks and bridges represents a significant example of 18th-century canal engineering and showcases impressive construction quality.