Grand Union Canal Aylesbury Arm Bridge Number 2 (Dixons Gap Bridge) and Lock Number 6 Adjoining on East is a Grade II listed building in the Dacorum local planning authority area, England. First listed on 29 May 1986. Canal bridge. 2 related planning applications.
Grand Union Canal Aylesbury Arm Bridge Number 2 (Dixons Gap Bridge) and Lock Number 6 Adjoining on East
- WRENN ID
- hallowed-hall-merlin
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Dacorum
- Constituency
- Harpenden and Berkhamsted MP: Victoria Collins (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 29 May 1986
- Type
- Canal bridge
- OS grid reference
- SP 909 144
- Coordinates
- 51.8215, -0.68219
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Grand Union Canal Aylesbury Arm Bridge Number 2, also known as Dixon's Gap Bridge, and the adjoining Lock Number 6, were built between 1811 and 1813 by engineer Henry Provis for the Grand Junction Canal Company. The bridge is constructed of red brick in English bond and features a lock made of plum brick with long granite edging stones, wooden gates, and cast iron domed bollards.
This narrow, hump-backed bridge carries Wingrave Road over the canal and has a skew arch with a round arch and a 9-inch arch ring. The battered side walls are topped by a narrow raised band at roadway level, and the parapet walls follow the curve of the hump. Square projecting end piers mark the outswept ends of the parapets, with the eastern parapet having been renewed in buff brick.
This structure is an early example of a skew bridge and has seen little alteration since the arm opened in 1815. The narrow lock accommodates a single narrowboat, with its lower end located close to the eastern side of the bridge. It features double gates at the lower end with gate paddles only, and a single gate at the upper end, which is hinged on the northern side of the lock. This end has ground paddles only, with the gear set on timber posts. Stone edging on the southern bank and brick on the northern bank extend about 8 meters to the east of the entrance. A dated cast iron hinge anchor plate marked '1851' at the western end is likely reused from another location.
Local climate
Grand Union Canal Aylesbury Arm Bridge Number 2 (Dixons Gap Bridge) and Lock Number 6 Adjoining on East sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 740 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 81% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 69% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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