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River Thames Cruise Guide - Oxford To Lechlade

We cruised the upper River Thames from Oxford (Osney Lock) to Lechlade as part of our summer cruise 2010 and due to water and weather conditions completed our trip to the current end of navigation, half a mile above Lechlade at the 'Round House' on foot.

The River Thames has all the characteristics of a lowland river above Oxford with very few striking changes in topography. The river meanders for mile upon mile over water meadows and flood plains only gently rising through just over 43 feet via 10 locks and weirs over 28 miles.

There is little to see and not much civilisation along this section of the Thames' course.

Free Environment Agency visitor moorings are few and far between and what there are are mostly rough meadow moorings. Many land owners along the course charge mooring fees, some of which have no notices of charges displayed! Charges vary between £3 and £5 per 24 hrs. Eynsham Lock has around 120 feet of 'proper' moorings below the lock and just 60 feet above and there are around 120 feet of free EA moorings at 'The Riverside' pub in Lechlade, but nothing to tie up to!

We were not really impressed with the cruise but we had to do it 'because it's there'! We wouldn't do this cruise again, unless the Thames & Severn Canal, currently under restoration, opens in our cruising life-time!

Anglo-Welsh and Oxford Cruisers both operate narrowboat holiday hire out of The Boat Centre, Eynsham, a couple of miles to the west of Oxford. We spoke to a number of hirers and found that the ones that cruised upstream to Lechlade were mainly disappointed with their trip, whereas those we spoke to that headed downstream through Oxford, Abingdon and beyond were generally pleased with their experiences.

The following are hamlets and villages along and close to the Thames course between Oxford and Lechlade:

Godstow, Oxfordshire - a hamlet by Godstow Lock on the River Thames about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northwest of the centre of Oxford. The ruins of Godstow Abbey, or Godstow Nunnery, are here as well as the Trout Inn by the low and narrow Godstow Bridge.

Wytham, Oxfordshire (pronounced Waitem), is a village on Seacourt Stream (AKA Wyt), a branch of the River Thames, about 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Oxford.

Swinford, Oxfordshire - a small settlement that lies on the road between Eynsham and Farmoor on the south bank of the River Thames near Swinford Toll Bridge and Eynsham Lock.

Bablock Hythe, Oxfordshire - a small hamlet, situated around 5 miles west of Oxford city centre. There was formerly an important vehicular ferry across the River Thames at Bablock Hythe on the reach 2.5 miles (4.0 km) above Pinkhill Lock. The earliest reference to a ferry is in 1279 and later ferries continued to provide a crossing service until the mid 20th century. The ferry was a wide beamed chain ferry punt which provided some hazard to navigation!

Newbridge, Oxfordshire - A 13th century bridge built by monks on the orders of King John in order to improve communications between the wool towns in the south of England, and the Cotswold farms now carrying the A415 road over the River Thames, close to the Thames' confluence with the River Windrush. It is one of the two oldest surviving bridges across the Thames. There is the The Rose Revived public house on the north bank and The Maybush on the south bank. The bridge consists two main spans, where the northern span crosses the river and the southern span, south of the Maybush, is dry underneath except when the river floods.

Radcot, Oxfordshire - a hamlet with the riverside Swan Hotel and Radcot Bridge at its centre. The bridge is claimed by locals to be the "oldest bridge on the Thames", having been built, with pointed arches of Taynton stone, around 1200. The Cistercian monks of St Mary at Citeaux in Normandy were granted land for the purpose by King John. Much of the structure was broken down during the famous battle which took place here in 1387, although it was apparently reconstructed six years later. The bridge was again severely damaged during the Wars of the Roses, and was largely rebuilt as we see it today with a flattened centre arch. Radcot Bridge became a toll bridge and its wharf was commercially important as the highest shipping point on the Thames, with the junction of the Severn-Thames canal not far away at Lechlade.

Kelmscott, Oxfordshire - A village on the River Thames in West Oxfordshire, about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Lechlade. Kelmscott Manor is a handsome manor house is situated close to the river Thames, and it is frequently flooded. It dates from around 1570, with a late 17th-century wing, and was the country home of the writer, designer and socialist William Morris from 1871 until his death in 1896. Today it is owned by the Society of Antiquaries of London, and is open to the public on Wednesdays during the summer (charges apply).

Buscot, Oxfordshire - a village on the Thames about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of Lechlade. Many of the properties are owned by the National Trust (NT) and are let to long-term residents, some of whom work the farms on the agricultural estates surrounding the village. There is a village hall, tea shop and adjacent car park, and a children's playground. Nearby Buscot Park houses the notable Faringdon Collection of paintings, Italian water garden, and walled vegetable garden and fruit orchards (NT charges apply). A short walk from the end of the village leads past Buscot Weir field to Buscot Lock on the Thames. The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary was built in about 1200. The stained glass in the east window of the chancel was made by Edward Burne-Jones in 1891.

Lechlade, Gloucestershire - a small town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds. Half a mile upstream is the highest point at which the River Thames is usually navigable for motorised craft and relatively large craft including narrowboats (roving sand banks permitting). The river is actually navigable for a short distance further upstream, near the village of Inglesham, where the Thames and Severn Canal joins the River Thames. Rowing boats can reach even further upstream, to Cricklade. The town is named after the River Leach that joins the Thames nearby. The town is a popular venue for local tourism and river-based activities. There is a convenience store, food outlets, two fishing tackle shops, garden centre and a year round Christmas shop to name but a few! Another tributary of the Thames, the River Coln, joins the Thames at the Inglesham Round House one of five of these distinctive canal company buildings that were constructed by the Thames & Severn Canal Company within 2 years of the canal's opening in 1789, serving as lengthsman's cottages. The Inglesham Round House is now owned by British Waterways. The roundhouse has three floors. Originally the ground floor would have been used as a stable with the first and second floors being used for living accommodation.

It is possible to travel by river or on foot from the Inglesham Round House to London but The Halfpenny Bridge, Lechlade is the usual start for a water based 'Thames meander' - the term for a long distance journey down the Thames. The Thames Path also continues upstream to the traditional source of the Thames at Thames Head.

Lechlade is a popular resort for Thames boating. Boats of different types can be hired from here, from rowing boats to river cruisers.

The highest lock on the Thames is St John's Lock, at Lechlade, where there is a statue of Old Father Thames overlooking the boating activities and some pretty miniature cottages in the garden.

The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley composed A Summer Evening Churchyard at Lechlade which includes the lines:

     Clothing in hues of heaven thy dim and distant spire
     Around whose lessening and invisible height
     Gather among the stars the clouds of night