You can still see its remains in the towpath arches in the road bridges over the canal. While the locks were under construction a tramroad provided a link between the canal at Foxhangers to Devizes. It was John Rennie's idea to climb the very steep Caen Hill - the last part of the 87 mile route of the Kennet & Avon Canal to be completed. The proposed route was accepted by the then ‘Kennet and Avon Canal Company’, chaired by Charles Dundas. In 1793 a further survey was conducted by engineer John Rennie, and the route of the canal was altered to take a more southerly course through Devizes, Trowbridge and Newbury.
The following year the engineers Barns, Simcock and Weston submitted a proposed route for this canal, although there were doubts about the adequacy of the water supply. Steep learning curveĪs far back as 1788 a ‘Western Canal’ was proposed to improve trade and communication links to towns such as Hungerford and Marlborough. As a result, 15 locks have unusually large side pounds, to store the water needed to operate them.
The 29 locks have a rise of 237 feet in 2 miles (that's 72m in 3.2 km or a 1 in 44 gradient).
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