Dorney Lake ‘unlikely to open again’ over summer

College concerned by the threat of vandalism and anti-social behaviour

Dorney Lake will close to the public this weekend and is ‘unlikely to ever open again in the summer months’, an Eton College staff member has said.

Eton College, which privately owns the rowing lake, announced on Monday that from this coming Saturday (April 20), Dorney Lake will be closed to the public until September 2.

In a note to staff, the college said: “Past experience has shown there is unfortunately a high likelihood of an unacceptable level of vandalism and anti-social behaviour, particularly during good weather.”

The college began closing the lake in the summer during COVID, due to littering, jumping off bridges and abuse of alcohol and drugs.

Moreover, the lake tends to be ‘overwhelmed’ in summer, with parking overload negatively impacting neighbours.

The lake is popular with walkers and runners and remains open to the public from September until mid-April.

But regular visitor to Dorney Lake, Robert Williams, is among those who are dismayed that the summer closure is happening again this year.

A rollerblader, his concern is for the sports that require a flat surface.

He said that there are not a lot of places locally that match this need – Dorney Lake is special in this regard.

Robert wrote about his concerns to Eton College and although staff wrote back to him recommending some walking routes, none of them would work for his purposes.

The lake’s path is useful, too, for those training for events like 5K runs, since it is easy to measure how far one has gone on the paths, he added.

“It’s really that perfect spot,” Robert said.

In his observation, Dorney Lake sees ‘a modest selection of people’ taking part in outdoor exercise, and they are respectful of the rowing coaches there and the space they need.

Yet these are the (largely local) people that would be most adversely affected at the time of year they would most want to get out and about, he said.

“It’s all too easy to say it’s being closed because of antisocial behaviour – have they looked at any other way that could be solved?”

This is not the first time the full summer closure decision has been criticised – in previous years, members of the public branded the response ‘excessive’, suggesting partial closure and a booking system instead.

Janet Walker, bursar at

Eton College, then told the Advertiser that any kind of booking system would be very expensive – and the college has to pay for everything, including any damage, itself, since it is private rather than a public amenity.

Speaking to the paper this week, she said:

“Sadly, I think it unlikely that we will ever open the Lake again during the summer months.”