The stream to the town was developed by the monks of Abingdon Abbey and the original weir is reputed to have been built by them during the 10th century.

A pound lock was built on the Swift Ditch by the Oxford-Burcot Commission in 1635 making it then the navigation route.

[2] The lock can be reached on a track heading north from Abingdon Bridge on the Andersey Island side.

Alternatively it is possible to walk along the river from the town centre through Abbey Meadows and cross the weir.

For the first few hundred yards the river has turned back on itself making the northern bank temporarily on the southern side.