 By 1794, not much had changed, with John Rennie, the engineer of the Kennet and Avon Canal describing it as "a very bad and inconvenient staunch lock".The lock was converted to a timber-constructed pound lock in 1802 to improve navigation from the Thames into the River Kennet enabling boats to travel all the way to the Bristol area.The lock retains its manual beams (not the originals, new beams were fitted in 2006), so far avoiding the progress towards hydraulic power.