Buckinghamshire, England

Temple Lock Boat Rollers

Launch — Boat rollers on the Buckinghamshire bank, used to portage small craft such as canoes, kayaks and paddleboards around Temple Lock. The Environment Agency lists on-site facilities as card and contactless payment, a toilet, and a drinking water tap for portable containers only.

Parking — The lock has no direct road access and is reached only on foot along the Thames Path towpath from Marlow or Hurley, so there is nowhere to park at the lock itself.

Access — The Thames Path towpath crosses to the Berkshire bank at Temple Footbridge immediately upstream of the lock; the Environment Agency's current guidance for boaters lists the footbridge as closed, with a diversion signposted.

Season — Temple Footbridge and Temple Lock have both been subject to closures and restriction notices for safety works and repairs in the past; check the Environment Agency's river restrictions and closures notices before relying on a particular route or timing.

Regulations — The Environment Agency is the navigation authority for the non-tidal River Thames and requires every vessel, including canoes, kayaks and paddleboards, to be registered between Cricklade Bridge and Teddington Lock; Paddle UK's On the Water membership, which includes a waterways licence, is accepted in place of a separate registration. A registration for an unpowered open boat can be bought at most Thames locks, Temple included, when a lock keeper is on duty.

Temple Lock sits on one of the shortest reaches on the River Thames, on the Buckinghamshire bank between Marlow and Hurley. Temple Mill Island's marina lies just downstream, and Hurley Lock is a little over a kilometre upstream.

The weir runs from the lock across to the Berkshire bank a short distance upstream, so a paddler approaching from upstream meets the weir on the far bank before reaching the lock and rollers on the Buckinghamshire side.

Temple Footbridge, immediately above the lock, was built in 1989 to replace a ferry that had run at the same crossing until 1953. Temple Mill Island, just downstream, is named for the copper and brass mills once worked there, before the housing development and marina now on the site.

Nearby

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Hurley Lock Tea Shop

Cafe at Hurley Lock, on the opposite (Berkshire) bank of the river, about 1km upstream.

Hurley Riverside Park

Touring and camping park on the Thames at Hurley, on the opposite (Berkshire) bank, about 1.9km upstream, open to the public with two guest-only slipways.

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Conditions to check

Weir

The weir runs across from the lock to the Berkshire bank a short distance upstream of the lock.

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Lock

Temple Lock, an Environment Agency lock on the Buckinghamshire bank, is 41.02m long, 5.46m wide and has a fall of 1.23m.

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Boat traffic

Temple Regatta, an annual rowing regatta, takes place in early May between Marlow Bridge and Temple Lock.

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Other

The Environment Agency's river level gauge for this reach, River Thames level at Temple Lock, records a typical range of 0.05m to 0.21m.

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