Marlow is a small town on the banks of the Thames; to describe its location, I could say it is between Henley and Maidenhead, but it is simpler to look on Google Maps or OS Maps (Grid Ref SU855865). I have family connections to Marlow, so I’ve been coming here most of my life. The pictures in this piece are culled from my archive over the years.
Seen from the river, Marlow has a timeless quality: a white-painted suspension bridge, the spire of a church next to the river, and warm-toned brick buildings, all low-rise, with no concrete modernity to interrupt the idyll. It all feels unchanged for aeons. In reality, much of this appearance is nineteenth-century. All Saints Church in Marlow was built around the 1830’s, replacing the old one when the wooden spire fell through the nave during a gale in December 1830, bringing part of the Norman tower with it. Marlow Bridge was also built in the 1830s. The overall structure of the bridge will remind many of Budapest’s Széchenyi Chain Bridge: both were designed by William Tierney Clark. Marlow Bridge has one thing in common with so many other bridges over the Thames: at the time of writing, it needs substantial maintenance work, and while repairs are underway, vehicle traffic is currently restricted.
Outline map showing the locations of the pictures in this entry: these are marked as numbered orange circles. The Thames and its associated watercourses are shown in blue. Map data from Ordnance Survey Open Data, (reproduced under the Open Government Licence 2026), and Open Street Map (Copyright Open Street Map Contributors, 2026). Map drawn in QGIS.
2. Marlow Lock
3. Marlow Weir, 2008. It has hardly changed since then.
4. By Marlow Lock
Before the coming of the "pound" locks (i.e. locks with gates in the form we know them today), boats had to negotiate a notoriously difficult flash lock through the weir (a weir is recorded in the Domesday Book). Marlow's first pound lock was built in 1773; a stone lock followed in 1825, and the present lock dates from the 1927 rebuilding. The weir is a wide torrent with a roughly 2 metre drop, which kayakers and other river users are warned to keep well away from. These days it is difficult to approach on foot, as a gate is usually padlocked across the path up from the lock; the picture shown here dates back to 2008.
5. Swans by Higginson Park
By the riverfront just upstream of the bridge is Higginson Park, a large open park that leads gently down to moorings at the river's edge. When our children were young, we used to take them to the playground in the park to work off some of their energy, and the playground remains very popular today. Down by the riverfront, there is a population of swans: they have a prosperous and well-fed look about them. There are usually young children and their families feeding them (along with ducks and any other waterbird that can get a look in). The Thames Path runs along the riverbank upstream from the park, and is popular with joggers, families and dog walkers; it can get very crowded at times.
6. All Saints’ Church, Bisham
A few hundred metres upstream from Marlow on the Berkshire (south) bank is All Saints’ Church in the village of Bisham: the church’s tower survives from the 12th-century. I’ve mentioned this church in winter in a previous entry.
A little further on still is the National Sports Centre, largely concealed from the river by trees, which make lovely reflections in the river when the water is still. Both look remarkably rural from the river, despite how close they are to the town.
7. Autumn reflections, Bisham. The National Sports Centre is behind the trees.
8. By Lock Island
It is always quite surprising just how quickly the appearance of urban development around Marlow fades away going either upstream or downstream. Lock Island, which extends a little downstream of the lock, is quite residential, but even so, seen from the river it looks like a backwater, miles from anywhere.