Carpenters Road Lock Heritage from the shadow of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Conservation Management Plan Florence Salberter Heritage Adviser Canal & River Trust May 2015 CONTENT 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Purpose and scope of the document 1.2 Authorship 2.0 Understanding the historic asset 2.1 Historic context: a changing waterscape 2.2 Carpenters Road Lock: Why the lock was built and how it works 2.2.1 A unique lock design 2.2.2 A 1930s project 2.2.3 Dual function: Flood protection and navigation 2.2.4 Hygienic improvement 2.3 The Olympics’ legacy and the lock restoration 2.3.1 Abandoned waterways: how the lock fell into disrepair and is being recovered as part of the Olympics’ Legacy 2.3.2 Parallels between Olympics led regeneration today and the regeneration scheme of the 1930s depression 3.0 Statement of Significance and conservation principles 3.1 A lock with dual functions in response to local conditions 3.2 Conservation principles 4.0 Vulnerability and Risks 4.1 Threats to the heritage 4.1.1 Funding shortage 4.1.2 Inappropriate design intervention 4.1.3 Lack of maintenance 4.2 Interpretation 4.2.1 Content quality 4.2.2 Design and Vandalism 4.2.3 Sharing of information 5.0 Conservation Management aims and objectives 5.1 Broad aims and objectives for safeguarding heritage significance 5.1.1 The Lock 5.1.2 Interpretation 5.2 Environmental Appraisal 5.3 Stakeholders’ engagement Carpenters Road Lock Conservation Plan Page 2 of 20 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose and Scope of the document This Conservation Management Plan has been prepared by the Canal & River Trust to support the second phase of the HLF Heritage Grant application to restore and interpret Carpenters Road Lock. This document briefly identifies the heritage, its significance and any risks to it. It supports the choices that have been made for the restoration, design and interpretation themes. The Canal & River Trust is a recently established charity (July 2012) set up to care for England and Wales’ 200 year old waterways. The Trust is among the UK’s biggest charities, with responsibility for 2,000 miles of canals, rivers, docks and reservoirs, along with museums, archives and the country’s third largest collection of protected historic buildings. In East London, the Trust works in partnership with a whole host of stakeholders, government agencies, businesses and local communities to develop a new model for the management and stewardship of the canals, rivers and docks – one which we hope can be heralded as a model for creating an active, vibrant and truly sustainable place for people, wildlife and enterprise. 1.2 Authorship This Statement has been prepared by Florence Salberter, heritage adviser at Canal & River Trust (MA, MSc, IHBC). Florence has been working for the organisation for over eight years and was responsible for ensuring the historic environment was given due considerations in anticipation of the Games and for sourcing and researching archives. She commissioned the report on the lock carried out by Pre-Construct Archaeology (PCA) and also liaised with English Heritage/Historic England, the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) and the Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society (GLIAS) as well as provided support to the team throughout the development of this project. The sources consulted for this Conservation Plan in particular were: Heritage Assessment of the mechanical and electrical elements of carpenters road lock, 2010, Pre-Construct Archaeology. By River, Fields and Factories; Powell Andrew. The Making of the Lower Lea Valley. The Olympic Park, Waterways and associated built heritage structures: Carpenters Lock, City Mill River Footbridge, Pudding Mill Lock, Old Ford Locks, Old Ford Lock houses, Marshgate Lane Lock, Stone and Brick Riverbank Walls, Pudding Mill River, 2008, MoLA-PCA. Carpenters Road Lock Conservation Plan Page 3 of 20 2.0 UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORIC ASSET 2.1 Historic context: a changing waterscape The Bow Back Rivers and the Lea Navigation have a very rich history that has contributed to shaping the area but is not widely known. The River Lea goes back to prehistoric times but the first documentary evidence for use of the river occurs in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle where it relates that in 894 the Danes of Mersea rowed their ships up the Thames and the Lea. The 1086 Domesday survey records at least eight tidal watermills on the tributaries of the River Lea, used for various manufacturing processes. Some of these former mills can be identified in the names still in use today in the area: Pudding Mill, City Mill, Waterworks Mill, Abbey Mill and Three Mills. Beyond the banks and channels, the land would have been used for arable and reed cultivation and animal husbandry. During the 14th century Edward III encouraged the expansion of manufacturing on the lower Lea. These industries included soap making, printing, paper making, gun powder manufacture, flour milling, distilling, linen and silk weaving, tanning and the manufacture of porcelain. While the navigation was used for carrying various materials including coal and timber, malt and grain for beer and bread making, copper ingots, gunpowder and armaments. The River Lea was the first, in 1424 of any rivers in the British Isles to benefit from an Act for navigational improvement. Conflicts were common between the various users. Fisheries and water mills required weirs which penned the water to help them function efficiently. The bargemen required an uninterrupted waterway to achieve a profitable fast passage. It took many years of disputes to achieve a workable, though sometimes fragile, compromise. In addition, from the 17th century, the New River Company required supplies to enable them to provide London with drinking water. West Ham Council and the Lee Conservancy Board submitted a joint Parliamentary Bill in 1930 for the River Lee (Flood Relief) Act. The works proposed in the bill were “to prevent and minimise the risk of flooding in the area, to improve hygienic conditions and to render the waterways navigable at all states of the tide”. The bill went on to proclaim: “In addition it is considered that an all-round improvement of the district generally should result in consequence of the execution of the works.” The works included the widening and re-routing of various waterways, two new locks (City Mill and Carpenters Road Lock) to allow access from the tidal Waterworks River, the demolition and re-location of houses and the creation of wharves to tempt new industry to the area. A lifting sluice gate was also built into Prescott Channel which enabled to control the amount of water flowing through this new channel, as this was diverting water from the House Mill. Carpenters Road Lock Conservation Plan Page 4 of 20 Extract from the ‘official opening of river improvement works’ leaflet, 1935 Unfortunately the hoped-for boom never came and the Bow Back Rivers area gradually deteriorated. In the second half of the 20th century, the Bow Back Rivers were categorised as Remainder Waterways and both locks became unusable, with the last passage by boat through Carpenters Road Lock recorded in the 1960s. The advent of the Olympics saw major works invigorating new life into these waterways with City Mill lock being brought back to full automated use, a new lock on Prescott Channel being built along with a weir and fish pass, and waterway walls being repaired throughout. The new lock, Three Mills Lock and associated sluice on Three Mills Wall are now controlling tidal waters influx as well as the fluvial level which enable to control the water level within the Bow Back Rivers. Carpenters Road Lock Conservation Plan Page 5 of 20 Over the years and especially in the 20th century, with the decline of heavy polluting industries and the recent clean up and installation of eel passes, the water level quality has improved. Extensive research techniques including geotechnical boreholes, palaeoenvironmental study, archaeological investigations, built heritage survey, documentary and cartographic research, and oral history recording have been used to understand the development and historical context of the area that sustained major transformation to receive ‘The 2012 Olympics’. This has provided a large amount of data and information and a greater understanding of the Lea’s river system and tributaries, their relationship with the floodplains as well as the relationship between landscape, river and settlement. It has demonstrated how the environment has influenced former land and water courses usage and how these have in turn shaped developments through the ages. Little of these findings are available to visitors of the Park and the restoration of Carpenters Road Lock given its position and role within the Park, offers the opportunity to act as a catalyst and be the place where some of these stories will be shared with visitors and participants. 2.2 Carpenters Road Lock: Why the lock was built and how it works 2.2.1 A unique lock design Carpenters Road Lock had double radial gates lifted or lowered by an innovative operating mechanism mounted on overhead gantries. One of these gantries was also carrying the towpath over to the other side. The gear comprised a substantial centrally located manually operated enclosed epicyclic gearbox which drove two output shafts, one on either side. Each shaft drove a pair of couples winding barrels at either end of the gantry that respectively raised/lowered the gates and counterweights. This system enabled the gates to be operated at different speed and although those planetary gearing were not new it would appear that their use to operate lock gate might have been a first in the UK. The lock was the only one on the Lee Navigation to be fitted with rising radial gates, a type of lifting gate used on the Continent.