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Summary

The Kennet Navigation from Reading to Newbury was constructed between 1718 and 1723; west of Newbury to Bath the canal was built between 1794 and 1810, by John Rennie, to join the Avon Navigation

Other Statuses and Cross-References

• Berkshire SMR No. (pre 2000): 05050.00.000
  
• National Monuments Record No.: LINEAR 32
  

Monument Type(s):

• RIVER NAVIGATION (18th century - 1718 AD to 1723 AD)
• CANAL (18th century to 19th century - 1794 AD to 1810 AD)

Full Description

The Kennet and Avon Canal is an important inland waterway running east-west for 87 miles across southern England. It was made up of two lengths of navigable river, the Kennet Navigation and the Avon Navigation, joined by a man-made canal section. Its 26 mile (c42km) route across West Berkshire largely follows the Kennet Valley, though west of Hungerford it runs parallel to the River Dun.

The Kennet Navigation Bill to improve the route of the river from Reading to Newbury received Royal Assent on 21st September 1715, and construction was mostly the work of the surveyor John Hore of Newbury between 1718 and 1723. The Kennet Navigation was fully open to traffic on 1st June 1723 though the horse towing path was finished a year later. Francis Page of Goldwell House bought the Navigation in the 1760s and enlarged the locks.

The Avon Navigation, opened in 1727, allowed cargo transport from Bristol to Bath. The concept of linking the Avon and the Kennet by a canal was considered in the later 18th century, and several surveys were undertaken to find a route. In 1794 the Kennet and Avon Canal Act received Royal Assent, and engineer John Rennie was appointed to oversee the works. The stretches of canal from Newbury to the Wiltshire border were built by 1799, and the whole route to Bath was opened in 1810.

The canal was initially a commercial success, bringing prosperity to the areas through which it passed. However with the coming of the railways in the 1840s, competition started to affect trade. In 1852 the Great Western Railway gained Parliamentary approval to take over the canal, and despite obligations to keep the canal in good repair, the railway company began to run it down. A long slow decline followed with stretches of the canal being neglected and the number of traders falling. Though it was still just navigable into the 1950s, a 1955 review recommended that the then owners the British Transport Commission should be relieved on their responsibilities for economically unviable canals. The Transport Commission then announced they intended to abandon the canal section between Reading and Bath.

After considerable campaigning by interest groups, the Kennet and Avon Canal Association (later the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust) was formed. One of the key individuals involved in the fight to keep the canal open was Newbury waterman John Gould (1913-1999). The Transport Act of 1962 transferred the waterways to a new organisation, The British Waterways Board and this was a turning point, with a later White Paper accepting that the nation's waterway network should be retained. However the task of restoring the canal was enormous involving decades of fund-raising by the Trust and the work of many volunteers and staff. The canal was made navigable again by 1990, when it was reopened by Queen Elizabeth. Further investment and improvements in the canal infrastructure have created a popular tourist destination and widely used amenity in the early 21st century, though one little employed in the transportation of goods.

Lock numbering along the Kennet and Avon Canal starts with 1 at Hanham near Bristol and ends in Reading at Lock 106. Bridges however were numbered the other way, from No 1 in Reading to 215 in Hanham.

The canal is represented in GIS records as several lines for each stretch between the locks.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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