diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e5b23edc..b858d407 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -5155,6 +5155,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "test-case",
  "thiserror 2.0.18",
  "tokio",
+ "tracing",
  "uuid",
  "wiremock",
 ]
diff --git a/crates/cluster/Cargo.toml b/crates/cluster/Cargo.toml
index 32bdb442..494da81c 100644
--- a/crates/cluster/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/cluster/Cargo.toml
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ pluto-k1util.workspace = true
 pluto-ssz.workspace = true
 k256.workspace = true
 tokio.workspace = true
+tracing.workspace = true
 reqwest = { workspace = true, features = ["json"] }
 # Workaround to use test code from different crate.
 # See: https://github.com/NethermindEth/pluto/pull/285
diff --git a/crates/cluster/src/lib.rs b/crates/cluster/src/lib.rs
index b3b08b3c..9b50a68d 100644
--- a/crates/cluster/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/cluster/src/lib.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ pub mod distvalidator;
 pub mod eip712sigs;
 /// General helper utilities.
 pub mod helpers;
+/// Loading and verification of a cluster [`Lock`](lock::Lock) from disk.
+pub mod load;
 /// `Lock` type representing the finalized cluster configuration, including
 /// distributed validators and node signatures.
 pub mod lock;
diff --git a/crates/cluster/src/load.rs b/crates/cluster/src/load.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1612cbf5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/cluster/src/load.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,265 @@
+//! Loading and verification of a cluster [`Lock`] from disk.
+//!
+//! Mirrors Charon's `cluster.LoadClusterLock` (`cluster/load.go`), which
+//! replaced the manifest-DAG loading path when the cluster manifest was
+//! removed (Charon #4130). Charon v1.7.1 obtained the cluster by materialising
+//! a manifest DAG; this function reads and verifies the cluster lock file
+//! directly.
+
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use pluto_eth1wrap::{EthClient, EthClientError};
+use tracing::warn;
+
+use crate::lock::{Lock, LockError};
+
+/// Errors returned by [`load_cluster_lock`].
+#[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
+pub enum LoadError {
+    /// The cluster-lock file could not be read from disk.
+    #[error("read cluster-lock.json {path}: {source}")]
+    Read {
+        /// Path that failed to read.
+        path: String,
+        /// Underlying I/O error.
+        #[source]
+        source: std::io::Error,
+    },
+
+    /// The cluster-lock file could not be JSON-decoded.
+    #[error("unmarshal cluster-lock.json: {0}")]
+    Parse(#[source] serde_json::Error),
+
+    /// Cluster-lock hash verification failed. Re-run with `no_verify` to bypass
+    /// this check at your own risk.
+    #[error(
+        "verify cluster lock hashes (run with no_verify to bypass verification at your own risk): {0}"
+    )]
+    VerifyHashes(#[source] LockError),
+
+    /// Cluster-lock signature verification failed. Re-run with `no_verify` to
+    /// bypass this check at your own risk.
+    #[error(
+        "verify cluster lock signatures (run with no_verify to bypass verification at your own risk): {0}"
+    )]
+    VerifySignatures(#[source] LockError),
+
+    /// The execution-layer client could not be constructed.
+    #[error("build execution-layer client: {0}")]
+    Eth1(#[source] EthClientError),
+}
+
+/// Reads the cluster lock file at `lock_file_path`, JSON-decodes it into a
+/// [`Lock`], and verifies its hashes and signatures.
+///
+/// When `no_verify` is set, verification failures are logged as warnings
+/// instead of being returned as errors (mirrors Charon's `--no-verify`): both
+/// [`Lock::verify_hashes`] and [`Lock::verify_signatures`] still run.
+///
+/// `eth1` backs EIP-1271 smart-contract operator-signature verification. Pass a
+/// no-op client (from `EthClient::new("")`) to skip only the contract-based
+/// checks; BLS-aggregate and node signatures are still verified.
+///
+/// Mirrors Charon's `cluster.LoadClusterLock`.
+pub async fn load_cluster_lock(
+    lock_file_path: impl AsRef<Path>,
+    no_verify: bool,
+    eth1: &EthClient,
+) -> Result<Lock, LoadError> {
+    let path = lock_file_path.as_ref();
+
+    let contents = tokio::fs::read_to_string(path)
+        .await
+        .map_err(|source| LoadError::Read {
+            path: path.display().to_string(),
+            source,
+        })?;
+
+    let lock: Lock = serde_json::from_str(&contents).map_err(LoadError::Parse)?;
+
+    match lock.verify_hashes() {
+        Ok(()) => {}
+        Err(err) if no_verify => {
+            warn!(%err, "Ignoring failed cluster lock hashes verification due to no_verify flag");
+        }
+        Err(err) => return Err(LoadError::VerifyHashes(err)),
+    }
+
+    match lock.verify_signatures(eth1).await {
+        Ok(()) => {}
+        Err(err) if no_verify => {
+            warn!(%err, "Ignoring failed cluster lock signatures verification due to no_verify flag");
+        }
+        Err(err) => return Err(LoadError::VerifySignatures(err)),
+    }
+
+    Ok(lock)
+}
+
+/// Reads and verifies the cluster lock at `lock_file_path` with a default no-op
+/// execution-layer client (no configured endpoint) and verification enabled.
+///
+/// Convenient for standalone tools that only need a verified lock and have no
+/// execution-layer endpoint to inject. EIP-1271 smart-contract operator
+/// signatures are skipped; BLS-aggregate and node signatures are still
+/// verified.
+///
+/// Mirrors Charon's `cluster.LoadClusterLockAndVerify`.
+pub async fn load_cluster_lock_and_verify(
+    lock_file_path: impl AsRef<Path>,
+) -> Result<Lock, LoadError> {
+    let eth1 = EthClient::new("").await.map_err(LoadError::Eth1)?;
+
+    load_cluster_lock(lock_file_path, false, &eth1).await
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use std::io::Write;
+
+    use tempfile::NamedTempFile;
+
+    use super::*;
+
+    const LOCK_V1_10_0: &str = include_str!("testdata/cluster_lock_v1_10_0.json");
+
+    /// A no-op execution-layer client: BLS-aggregate and node signatures are
+    /// still verified, only EIP-1271 contract-based operator signatures are
+    /// skipped.
+    async fn noop_eth1() -> EthClient {
+        EthClient::new("").await.expect("noop eth1 client")
+    }
+
+    /// Writes `contents` to a temporary file that `load_cluster_lock` can read
+    /// by path.
+    fn write_lock(contents: &str) -> NamedTempFile {
+        let mut file = NamedTempFile::new().expect("create temp lock file");
+        file.write_all(contents.as_bytes())
+            .expect("write temp lock file");
+        file.flush().expect("flush temp lock file");
+        file
+    }
+
+    /// Ports Charon's `TestLoadClusterLock`: the lock is read and parsed and
+    /// its fields are populated (verification skipped via `no_verify`).
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn load_cluster_lock_reads_and_parses() {
+        let file = write_lock(LOCK_V1_10_0);
+        let eth1 = noop_eth1().await;
+
+        let lock = load_cluster_lock(file.path(), true, &eth1)
+            .await
+            .expect("load lock");
+
+        assert_eq!(lock.definition.name, "test definition");
+        assert_eq!(lock.definition.version, "v1.10.0");
+        assert_eq!(lock.threshold, 3);
+        assert_eq!(lock.distributed_validators.len(), 2);
+        assert_eq!(lock.node_signatures.len(), 2);
+        assert_eq!(
+            lock.lock_hash,
+            hex::decode("015036f659bd05894dfb531bf0ab3fdb32a05584ec037fc8262843d14e1aae60")
+                .unwrap()
+        );
+        // Verify first operator
+        assert_eq!(
+            lock.operators[0].address.to_uppercase(),
+            "0x094279db1944ebd7a19d0f7bbacbe0255aa5b7d4".to_uppercase()
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            lock.operators[0].enr.to_uppercase(),
+            "enr://b0223beea5f4f74391f445d15afd4294040374f6924b98cbf8713f8d962d7c8d".to_uppercase()
+        );
+        // Verify first distributed validator
+        assert_eq!(
+            lock.distributed_validators[0].public_key_hex().unwrap().to_uppercase(),
+            "0x1814be823350eab13935f31d84484517e924aef78ae151c00755925836b7075885650c30ec29a3703934bf50a28da102".to_uppercase()
+        );
+        assert_eq!(lock.distributed_validators[0].pub_shares.len(), 2);
+    }
+
+    /// With verification enabled, a corrupted lock hash is rejected.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn load_cluster_lock_rejects_tampered_hash() {
+        let mut lock: Lock = serde_json::from_str(LOCK_V1_10_0).unwrap();
+        lock.lock_hash[0] ^= 0xff;
+        let file = write_lock(&serde_json::to_string(&lock).unwrap());
+        let eth1 = noop_eth1().await;
+
+        let err = load_cluster_lock(file.path(), false, &eth1)
+            .await
+            .expect_err("tampered hash must fail verification");
+
+        assert!(matches!(err, LoadError::VerifyHashes(_)), "got {err:?}");
+    }
+
+    /// With `no_verify`, the same corrupted lock is loaded regardless (the
+    /// verification failure is downgraded to a warning).
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn load_cluster_lock_no_verify_ignores_tampered_hash() {
+        let mut lock: Lock = serde_json::from_str(LOCK_V1_10_0).unwrap();
+        lock.lock_hash[0] ^= 0xff;
+        let file = write_lock(&serde_json::to_string(&lock).unwrap());
+        let eth1 = noop_eth1().await;
+
+        let loaded = load_cluster_lock(file.path(), true, &eth1)
+            .await
+            .expect("no_verify should ignore verification failures");
+
+        assert_eq!(loaded.definition.version, "v1.10.0");
+    }
+
+    /// A missing file surfaces a read error rather than a parse/verify error.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn load_cluster_lock_missing_file() {
+        let eth1 = noop_eth1().await;
+
+        let err = load_cluster_lock("/nonexistent/cluster-lock.json", false, &eth1)
+            .await
+            .expect_err("missing file must fail");
+
+        assert!(matches!(err, LoadError::Read { .. }), "got {err:?}");
+    }
+
+    /// Malformed JSON surfaces a parse error.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn load_cluster_lock_malformed_json() {
+        let file = write_lock("{ not valid json");
+        let eth1 = noop_eth1().await;
+
+        let err = load_cluster_lock(file.path(), false, &eth1)
+            .await
+            .expect_err("malformed json must fail");
+
+        assert!(matches!(err, LoadError::Parse(_)), "got {err:?}");
+    }
+
+    /// A freshly generated, self-consistent lock verifies end-to-end with
+    /// `no_verify=false` against a no-op execution-layer client.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn load_cluster_lock_verifies_generated_lock() {
+        let (lock, ..) = crate::test_cluster::new_for_test(1, 2, 3, 1);
+        let file = write_lock(&serde_json::to_string(&lock).expect("serialize generated lock"));
+        let eth1 = noop_eth1().await;
+
+        let loaded = load_cluster_lock(file.path(), false, &eth1)
+            .await
+            .expect("generated lock should verify");
+
+        assert_eq!(loaded.lock_hash, lock.lock_hash);
+    }
+
+    /// The convenience wrapper reads and verifies a self-consistent lock using
+    /// its built-in no-op execution-layer client.
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn load_cluster_lock_and_verify_generated_lock() {
+        let (lock, ..) = crate::test_cluster::new_for_test(1, 2, 3, 1);
+        let file = write_lock(&serde_json::to_string(&lock).expect("serialize generated lock"));
+
+        let loaded = load_cluster_lock_and_verify(file.path())
+            .await
+            .expect("generated lock should verify");
+
+        assert_eq!(loaded.lock_hash, lock.lock_hash);
+    }
+}