For much of the time the lock was open at both ends and the fall was only 18 inches when the water level reached its lowest in summer.
Its usefulness was demonstrated shortly after its construction, when a barge stranded upstream in the shallows was set in motion within five minutes of closing the gates.
Nevertheless, from 1874 onwards, the inhabitants of Wallingford campaigned strongly to keep the lock fearing consequences to the town of its removal.
[2] In 1881 Thames Conservancy dredged the river below Wallingford Bridge at "enormous cost" and in the winter floating ice swept away much of the weir.
[4] William Staniland included "The lay of Chalmore Lock" among his Songs after Sunset in 1884.