The heritage complex of Lock 7 in Campos, built between 1842 and 1849, is located in the municipality of Tamariz de Campos (Valladolid), at kilometer 145.400 of the Campos Branch of the Castile Canal. It is the last lock on this branch, a fact that gives it special historical and territorial value, as it marks the end of the canal’s navigation and regulation system in this section. Its overall function was to overcome the final difference in elevation, control the flow, and regulate the water flow at a point where the canal’s course takes a sharp turn, adapting to the terrain and the surrounding agricultural landscape.
Lock 7 is a simple, rectangular lock, approximately 29.60 meters long, 5 meters wide, and 2.95 meters high. It is constructed of limestone masonry and retains its original hydraulic structure. On the right bank, a fixed-lip spillway connects via a nozzle to a buried conduit that discharges into the lock basin, which is also fed by a lateral intake. On the left bank, extending perpendicularly from the upper intake, begins the diversion channel that carries water to the adjacent building via an open channel. Downstream, stone hammers protect the structure from erosion.
Associated with the lock are the bridge that crosses it and also spans the diversion, built in limestone ashlar with segmental arches —two main ones and a smaller arch on the left bank—, which guarantees the continuity of the road from Tamariz de Campos to Villanueva de San Mancio and is in a good state of preservation, as well as the old lock keeper’s house, two stories, made of ashlar, brick and rammed earth and now in a state of ruin, but protected for its environmental value as a testimony of the daily life linked to the maintenance of the canal.
A visit to the Campos Lock 7 complex offers a particularly meaningful experience, as it is the final point of the Campos Branch Line.
