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River Foss

Information about the waterway

The River Foss is a small river and is part of the Waterways of Mainland Britain. It runs for 1 mile and 6¼ furlongs through 1 lock from Foss Island Line Railway Bridge (which is a dead end) to Ouse - Foss Junction (where it joins the River Ouse : Yorkshire (non-tidal section)).

The maximum dimensions for a boat to be able to travel on the waterway are 82 feet long and 18 feet and 6 inches wide. The maximum headroom is not known. The maximum draught is not known.

The lock on the River Foss in York is operated on request by members of IWA North Riding Branch, as a free service to all boaters.
This has been agreed with the navigation authority, York City Council.
To book a passage through Castle Mills Lock, York, two days'' notice is needed. All passages are subject to the water levels in the River Foss.
Telephone: 07588-236597.
There is a 24- hour voice messaging service.
Please leave these details, and a volunteer will contact you.
Your name, proposed date of passage, a mobile number, name of boat.

There are no overnight moorings available on the River Foss, so it is necessary to book both passages. It is, however, an attractive mile-and-a-half of secluded waterway for a return trip within the day. As there are no winding holes at the head of navigation it could be better to travel in pairs, tied nose to tail to avoid reversing the whole of the return trip

Relevant publications — Waterway Maps:

Foss Island Line Railway Bridge Effective end of the navigation for narrow boats
Monk Bridge Upper limit of navigation.	3¾ furlongs	0 locks
Foss Bank Pipe Bridge	4 furlongs	0 locks
Foss Bank Bridge	6 furlongs	0 locks
Layerthorpe Bridge The bridge is 38yds (35m) long.	6½ furlongs	0 locks
DEFRA Pedestrian Bridge Closed	7 furlongs	0 locks
Wormald's Cut	1 mile	0 locks
Palmer Street Footbridge	1 mile and ½ furlongs	0 locks
Rowntree Wharf Pedestrian Bridge	1 mile and 1 furlong	0 locks
Rowntree Wharf Arm	1 mile and 1¼ furlongs	0 locks
Foss Bridge	1 mile and 2 furlongs	0 locks
Piccadilly Bridge, York	1 mile and 2¼ furlongs	0 locks
Castle Mills Bridge	1 mile and 4 furlongs	0 locks
Castle Mills Lock Weir Entrance Channel leading to the Weir - No Access	1 mile and 4¼ furlongs	0 locks
Castle Mills Lock	1 mile and 4¼ furlongs	0 locks
Castle Mills Lock Basin Basin and weir exit	1 mile and 4¾ furlongs	1 lock
Foss Barrier Flood water defence	1 mile and 5¼ furlongs	1 lock
Blue Bridge	1 mile and 5¾ furlongs	1 lock
Ouse - Foss Junction Junction of Rivers Ouse and Foss	1 mile and 6¼ furlongs	1 lock

Maps

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Additional information

Navigational Notes

External websites

Castle Mills Lock Passage — associated with Castle Mills Lock: Book passage on the River Foss. Castle Mills Lock on the River Foss in York is operated on request by volunteers from IWA North Riding Branch, as a free service to all boaters.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia has a page about River Foss

The River Foss is in North Yorkshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Ouse. It rises in the Foss Crooks Woods near Oulston Reservoir close to the village of Yearsley and runs south through the Vale of York to the Ouse in the centre of York. The name most likely comes from the Latin word Fossa, meaning ditch. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The York district was settled by Norwegian and Danish people, so parts of the place names could be old Norse. Referring to the etymological dictionary "Etymologisk ordbog", ISBN 82-905-2016-6 dealing with the common Danish and Norwegian languages – roots of words and the original meaning. The old Norse word Fos (waterfall) meaning impetuous. The River Foss was dammed, and even though the elevation to the River Ouse is small, a waterfall was formed. This may have led to the name Fos which became Foss.

The responsibility for the management of the river's drainage area is the Foss Internal drainage board (IDB). It has responsibility for the area from Crayke to the pre-1991 city boundary of York covering 9,085 hectares and 162.54 km of waterways. The Foss IDB is part of the York Consortium of Drainage Boards that oversees 10 IDB's in the Yorkshire region.

The typical river level range at the Foss Barrier is between 5.05m and 7.90m. The highest river level recorded was 10.20 metres and the river level reached 9.34 metres on 23 January 2008.

Other Wikipedia pages that might relate to River Foss

[River Foss Barrier] The River Foss Barrier is a floodgate that straddles the River Foss in York, England at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss just south of Clifford's [Foss] England Foss-Eikeland, a village in Sandnes, Norway River Foss, a river in North Yorkshire, England, U.K. Foss, Oklahoma, a town Foss State Park Foss, Oregon [River Ouse, Yorkshire] the mouth of the River Foss in York city centre in 1989, so that when the Ouse was in flood, water would not run upstream of the Foss and flood the city [Flood barrier] The River Foss, York, UK has a barrier to control the inflow of fast moving water from the River Ouse that may overspill its banks upstream the Foss and [Foss River] The Foss River is a stream in the U.S. state of Washington. It has two main forks, the East Fork Foss River and the West Fork Foss River. The main stem [Foss Reservoir] Foss Reservoir, also known as Foss Lake, is in Custer County, Oklahoma on the Washita River, about 15 miles (24 km) west of Clinton, Oklahoma. The reservoir [Bridges of York] bridges across the River Ouse within the city of York, England, and sixteen smaller bridges and passages across the narrower River Foss. The earliest bridge [Eboracum] military fortress (castra) on flat ground above the River Ouse near its junction with the River Foss. In the same year, Cerialis was appointed Governor [Foss River Falls] Foss River Falls is a 650-foot (200 m) drop on the West Fork Foss River in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, King County, Washington. Its sources are

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