Wilts and Berks Canal

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The Wilts and Berks Canal is a canal in the traditional counties of Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington, near Melksham, to the river Thames at Abingdon, with a branch to the Thames and Severn Canal at Cricklade. Following boundary changes in 1973 the canal no longer passes through Berkshire, but its original name is retained for historical reasons.

The Bill empowering construction of the canal received Royal Assent in 1795 and the canal was cut during the years 1796 to 1810. The main canal was 52 miles long, with branches totalling 6 miles to Chippenham, Calne, Wantage and Longcot. It was cut to take narrowboats 72 feet long and seven feet wide. There were 42 locks on the main line and three on the Calne branch. There were three short tunnels.

While the main canal was opened in 1810, some branches were operating before this and others added afterwards. The North Wilts Canal from Swindon to the Thames and Severn Canal at Cricklade was opened in 1819. It was originally a separate company, but soon merged with the Wilts & Berks. It had 11 locks.

Coal from the Somerset mines via the Somersetshire Coal Canal, which joined the Kennet and Avon at Dundas. The Wilts and Berks thus became a link in the "chain" of canals providing a transportation route between the West Country and the Midlands. Water supply was always a problem and a reservoir was constructed near Swindon to supply the canal, now known as Coate Water.

The Wilts and Berks Canal was never a great commercial success owing to its narrowness and competition from rail and other canals, especially the Great Western Railway from 1841. The Wilts and Berks Canal operated for more than a century before being abandoned by an Act of Parliament in 1914. The act was sponsored by Swindon Corporation, which gained control of all the land within its boundary. In other areas ownership returned to the owners of adjacent land. Through traffic had ceased in 1901 when the Stanley Aqueduct over the river Marden between Chippenham and Calne collapsed. From the early 1930's much of the canal was filled in and generally used for dumping rubbish. During 1939 to 1945 many of the locks and other canal structures were used for army exercises and damaged by explosives.

A preservation effort for what still remained began in 1977 and ten years later became a major restoration project. Some building had taken place on the land of the canal but much of it still exists in the form of lock and bridge remains, embankments, towpaths, hedgerows and ditches. It is now planned to restore all of the extensive rural sections, and to construct new sections (including several new tunnels) where urban development has made the original route unavailable. By 2002 some 8 miles of the canal had been opened.

N.B. The official name of the canal was always "Wilts & Berks Canal" as cited in the Acts of Parliament that authorised its building. It should never be referred to as the "Wiltshire and Berkshire" canal. Likewise the North Wilts Canal should never be referred to as the "North Wiltshire Canal".

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