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The River Lark is a tributary of the River Great Ouse. Rising south of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, it flows through that town, Mildenhall and Prickwillow, and joins the Great Ouse south of Littleport in Cambridgeshire. It is about 50km long.The River Lark is also an important focus for Prehistoric activity, particularly relating to the Neolithic enclosure at Fornham All Saints.
The Lark navigation was constructed from Mildenhall to Bury St Edmunds under an Act of Parliament passed in 1700. By 1700 the Lark was no longer navigable any further than Mildenhall from the sea, and so Henry Ashley obtained the Act to allow navigation as far as Eastgate Street. The Corporation of Bury were afraid of him setting up a wharfage monopoly, and opposed the plan. All Ashley could do was build his canal as far as Fornham, outside the Borough boundary. The canal seems to have been profitable immediately, largely for bringing in coal. |
Old lock on River Lark Site of a former lock on the River Lark at Fornham St Genevieve (Lock No. 4?) . © Copyright Bob Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. |
 Cherry Ground Lock, River Lark The remains of Lock No.12 between Bury St Edmunds and Mildenhall on the formerly navigable River Lark. It is an unusual design, being shaped as an oval, to allow barge traffic to pass in opposite directions. © Copyright Bob Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. |
River Lark at Mildenhall An old mill on the left bank, with a weir and disused lock in the distance (Lock No. 18?) © Copyright Bob Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.. |
Turf Lock on the River Lark (Lock No. 21) Looking downstream towards this disused lock, in Mildenhall. © Copyright Bob Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. |
Jack Tree Lock, River Lark (Staunch No. 17) One of a number of locks, now disused, on the formerly navigable River Lark. The river now bypasses the lock, which is now full of weeds and soil © Copyright Bob Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. |
Temple Weir on the River Lark (Staunch No. 16) Just downstream of Temple Bridge. © Copyright Bob Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. |
  Flempton Lock (Lock No. 8) the road is the Road from Flempton to West Stow. © Copyright Ivan Cane, East Anglian Waterways Association. |
 Hengrave Mill Lock (Lock No. 6) © Copyright Bob Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. |
River Lark from Eastgate Bridge This was the nominal head of navigation in the days when the River Lark was accessible by barge from King's Lynn. In practice, barges seldom ventured above the quay at St Saviour's, a mile downstream. Upstream of this point, access is impossible due to bridge height. © Copyright Bob Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. |
1929 The Lark navigation had by now become disused.
The River Lark is known as the River Jordan because it was such a popular place for baptisms
River Lark - from confluence with the Great Ouse to limit of navigation at Stringside Drain
Stour Navigation - transcript of deed for making the River Stour navigable between Manningtree and Sudbury.
The Kennett joins up with the River Lark, downstream of West Row.
(Dried up bed of the River Kennett near to Dalham)
© Copyright Bob Jones and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
| Table of distances, River Lark | Miles | ||
| Junction with Old West River (Great Ouse) | 0 (1.8) | Navigable | |
| Railway bridge | 1.8 (.3) | Navigable | |
| Prickwillow Bridge | 2.1 (6.0) | Navigable | |
| Isleham Lock No 26 | 8.1 (.5) | Navigable | |
| Freckenham Gravel Staunch No 25 | 7.6 (.5) | Navigable | |
| West Row Bridge | 9.1 (1.9) | Navigable | |
| Kings Staunch No 24 | 11.0 (.6) | With Difficulty | |
| Mildenhall West Lower Staunch No 23 | 11.6 (.1) | With Difficulty | |
| Mildenhall West Upper Staunch No 22 | 11.7 (100ft!) | ||
| Mildenhall West Upper Staunch No 22 | 12.9 (.6) | ||
| Mildenhall Turf Lock No 21 | 12.3 (.2) | ||
| Mildenhall Gas Works Lock No 20 | 12.5 (.7) | ||
| Hall Staunch No 19 | 13.8 (.4) | ||
| Barton Mills Lock No 18
moved upstream to avoid new road. | 13.6 (.3) | ||
| Tuddeham Lode (S. side of main river.) | 13.5 (.1) | ||
| Cut-Off Channel Junction (N. side of main river.) | 14.0 (.1) | ||
| Tuddenham Mill Stream (S. side of main river, leads to Tuddeham Mill) | 16.9 (1.5) | ||
| Jack Tree Staunch No 17 | 17.7 (.2) | ||
| Temple Bridge Staunch No 16
(W. from Icklingham.) | 17.8 (.8) | ||
| Icklingham (Mill) Lock No 15 | 18.6 (.2) | ||
| Farthing Bridge (At Icklingham.) | 16.8 (.3) | ||
| Mill Heath Lower Staunch No 14 | 17.7 (.1) | ||
| Mill Heath Upper Staunch No 13 | 17.1 (.7) | ||
| Cherry Ground Lock No 12 | 17.7 (.6) | ||
| Lackford Staunch No 11 | 18.1 (.2) | ||
| Fulling Mill Lock No 10 | 18.9 (.5) | ||
| Boyton Staunch No 9 | 19.8 (.5) | ||
| Flempton Lock No 8 (Road from Flempton to West Stow) | 20.1 (.6) | ||
| Chimney Mill Lock No 7 (SE. from West Stow) | 20.7 (.4) | ||
| Hengrave Mill Lock No 6 | 21.2 (.3) | ||
| Hengrave Bridge | 21.5 (.5) | ||
| Ducksluice Farm Lock No 5 | 22.0 (.4) | ||
| Causeway Bridge. between F' All Saint and F' St Genevieve | 22.6 (.1) | ||
| Fornham Park Lock No 4 | 22.7 (.3) | ||
| Fornham Staunch No 3 | 23 (.7) | ||
| Bury St Edmunds Staunch No 2 | 23.7 (.9) | ||
| Tollgate Lock No 1 | 24 (.3) | ||
| Northgate Dock | 0 24.6 (.6) | ||
