Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of 87 miles. It is made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The two river stretches were made navigable in the early 18th century. The 57-mile canal section was constructed between 1794 and 1810. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the canal fell into disuse after the opening of the Great Western Railway. After decades of dereliction and much restoration work, it was fully reopened in 1990.
About Kennet and Avon Canal in brief
Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of 87 miles. It is made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The two river stretches were made navigable in the early 18th century. The 57-mile canal section was constructed between 1794 and 1810. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the canal gradually fell into disuse after the opening of the Great Western Railway. After decades of dereliction and much restoration work, it was fully reopened in 1990. The canal has been developed as a popular heritage tourism destination for boating, canoeing, fishing, walking and cycling, and is also important for wildlife conservation. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section. From Bristol to Bath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, and from there to Reading on the River Thames. In all, the waterways incorporates 105 locks. The idea of an east-to-west waterway link across southern England was first mentioned in Elizabethan times, between 1558 and 1603, to take advantage of the proximity of tributaries of the rivers Avon and Thames, only 3 miles apart at their closest. After the English Civil War four bills were presented to parliament, but all failed after opposition from gentry, farmers and traders worried about cheaper water transport reducing the value of fees on turnpike roads they controlled, and cheaper produce from Wales undercutting locally produced food.
In 1793 a further survey was conducted by John Rennie, and the route of the canal was altered to take a more southerly course through Great Bedwyn, Devizes, Trowbridge and Newbury. The first cargo of \”Deal boards, Pig-Lead and Meal\” reached Bath in December 1793. In April 1794 the Kennet andAvon Canal Act received the Royal Assent. The section from Bath to Foxhangers was completed in 1810, and a tunnel in Savernake Forest, under the Avcliff Forest, was built in 1798. Major structures included the Dundas aqueduct, Aqueducts at Claverton and Bruce, and pumping stations at Croverton and Croaverton, and Claveron Croft. After 16 years of construction after 16 years, after the construction of the tunnel, the tunnel was opened in 1698. The waterway is now a popular tourist attraction for boaters, canoeists, fishermen, kayakers, and fishing, and walking and cycle enthusiasts. It has been open to the public since 1810 and is open to visitors from all over the world. It was opened to public in 1794, and has been opened to visitors since 1798, and it is now open to tourists from all around the world, including visitors from across the globe.
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This page is based on the article Kennet and Avon Canal published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 07, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
