Teddington Lock is the lowest full-tide lock and second lowest of all-tide locks on the Thames. Work started on it back in 1810, with it opening a year later in June 1811. Initially unpopular with local fishermen and bargemen, and after a number of attempts to destroy it, the lock keeper was granted permission to keep “a blunderbuss with bayonet attached thereto" to ward off attacks.

Teddington Lock
On arrival of the lock the weir marked the end of the tidal reach of the river. Prior to 1811, the tide used to go as far upriver as Walton, and occasionally Staines.
In 1940 the lock was used as the assembly point for an enormous flotilla of small ships from the length of the River Thames to be used in the evacuation of Dunkirk.
And now for something completely different.
In 1971 Teddington Lock was the scene of one of my all-time favourite, if brief, comedy sketches:

The Fish Slapping Dance
Accompanied by a new / relatively recent pre-amble by Michael Palin, it can be seen via the following link:
A few hundred yards upriver, (as shown in the map below), is Teddington Weir, and in 2009 a local community group initiated a feasibility study for exploiting it for generating electricity, inspired by similar community-led schemes elsewhere in the country, e.g. Torrs Hydra in Derbyshire and Settle Hydra in North Yorkshire. The study proposed using three reverse-Archimedean screws with a total output of 492 kilowatts (660 hp) and proved encouraging, generating enough to power about 600 homes. Environmental concerns were raised, however, by anglers worried about the potential effect on fish populations, leading to further surveys and delay. The Teddington & Ham Hydro team finally obtained planning approval in September 2015, only for the Shell-owned Lensbury sports centre on the riverside nearby to raise objections, and that is, I think, where things stand today.
March 2024 update: No change - plans for a hydro-electric plant on the Thames at Teddington Lock were officially blocked by the Court of Appeal in 2016 after judges ruled that the local council had failed to identify the project as an 'inappropriate development' in a protected area.

Red arrow: Fish Slappers Shrine, AKA Teddington Lock
Black arrow: Teddington Weir
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