Marple Top Lock (Marple Junction)

After ascending Marple locks, the summit level of the Peak Forest Canal is reached by climbing through lock 16 (Top Lock). The junction with the Macclesfield Canal (opened in 1831) is on the right and Top Lock House stands on the left. This was once the home of the Jinks family who were boat builders. Adjacent to the house there is now a mooring basin (Marple Basin) that once accessed the top of Samuel Oldknow's lime kilns by the Higher Private Branch to Lime Kilns.

Lock 16 viewed from lock 15 with Marple Junction beyond, c1920.
Marple Wharf, alongside the Macclesfield Canal, is on the far side
of the buildings on the right. The canal offices, warehouse and
and yard are located there.

Junction Side Bridge carries the towpath of the Upper Peak Forest Canal over the Macclesfield Canal and through the bridge, on the right, is Marple Wharf with its canal offices, warehouse and yard. Boats were once gauged here to determine their displacement when they were carrying known weights of cargo.

By the warehouse on Marple Wharf there was formerly a stop lock with a small rise in level to the Peak Forest Canal. Initially, the two canals were owned by separate companies and the purpose of this lock was to prevent the loss of water from the older Peak Forest Canal to the younger Macclesfield Canal. When the two canal companies came under the control of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company this lock served no useful purpose and the gates were removed. However, the location of this lock is still clearly visible.