STOP #5
Site of Chaffey’s Lock!
The original plan for the Chaffey’s lock station called for two locks and two dams. That plan was altered, resulting in the construction of a single lock and a waste weir. Originally Lock 37 of 49 locks, the lock station, including the canal, lock and bywash, was built from 1828 to 1831 at a cost of just over £4000. The contractor, John Haggart, a Scotsman, employed between 70 and 100 men, who with their wives and children lived in shanties along the canal. Trees in the lock area were cut and cleared on both sides of the canal. The complete Chaffey milling complex had to be dismantled and the old river bed widened. The sandstone blocks for the lock were quarried just east of Elgin and hauled to the site on wooden sleds called stone boats.
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