Dundas Aqueduct
Encyclopedia
Kennet and Avon Canal
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is commonly used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section...
over the River Avon
River Avon, Bristol
The River Avon is an English river in the south west of the country. To distinguish it from a number of other River Avons in Britain, this river is often also known as the Lower Avon or Bristol Avon...
and the Wessex Main Line
Wessex Main Line
The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton. Diverging from this route is the Heart of Wessex Line from Westbury to Weymouth.- Places served :The places served are listed below.*Bristol*Keynsham*Oldfield Park*Bath...
railway from Bath to Westbury
Westbury, Wiltshire
Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the English county of Wiltshire, most famous for the Westbury White Horse.-Name:The most likely origin of the West- in Westbury is simply that the town is near the western edge of the county of Wiltshire, the bounds of which have been much the same...
, near Limpley Stoke
Limpley Stoke
Limpley Stoke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, in the Avon Valley, between Bath and Freshford. The village is below the A36 road.The civil parish, which had a population of 637 in 2001, also includes the hamlet of Waterhouse, and the outskirts of the Somerset village of Midford. The 18th...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
It was built by John Rennie
John Rennie (father)
John Rennie was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals, and docks.-Early years:Rennie, a farmer's younger son, was born at Phantassie, near East Linton, East Lothian, Scotland, and showed a taste for mechanics at a very early age, and was allowed to spend much time in the...
and chief engineer John Thomas, between 1797 and 1801 and completed in 1805. James McIlquham was appointed contractor.
It is named after Charles Dundas
Charles Dundas, 1st Baron Amesbury
Charles Dundas, 1st Baron Amesbury was a British politician.-Background and education:Charles was a younger son of Thomas Dundas of Fingask, MP for Orkney and Shetland and a commissioner of police in Scotland , who died on 10 April 1786...
, the first chairman of the Kennet and Avon Canal Company. The aqueduct is 150 yards (137.2 m) long with three arches built of Bath Stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
, with Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
pilasters, and balustrades at each end.
The central semicircular arch spans 64 feet (19.5 m); the two oval side arches span 20 feet (6.1 m).
It is a grade I listed building,
and was the first canal structure to be designated as an Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1951.
Over many years leaks had developed and it was closed in 1954. For a while in the 1960s and 1970s, the canal was dry and it was possible to walk along the bed on each side of the river as well as through the aqueduct itself. The aqueduct was relined, with polythene and concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
and restored, reopening in 1984. Care was taken not to disturb a colony of bats living under the aqueduct.
Somerset Coal Canal
The Somerset Coal Canal was a narrow canal in England, built around 1800 from basins at Paulton and Timsbury via Camerton, an aqueduct at Dunkerton, Combe Hay, Midford and Monkton Combe to Limpley Stoke where it joined the Kennet and Avon Canal...
. The short stretch of the Somerset Coal Canal still with water in it forms Brassknocker Basin, used for boat moorings, cycle hire and a cafe.
and is next to Dundas Wharf where the small tollhouse, warehouse and crane still stand. Renovation work is being conducted on the wharf. The stretch of river below and above the aqueduct is used by Monkton Combe School
Monkton Combe School
Monkton Combe School is an independent boarding and day school of the British public school tradition, near Bath, England. The Senior School is located in the village of Monkton Combe, while the Prep School, Pre-Prep and Nursery are in Combe Down on the southern outskirts of Bath...
Boat Club (Monkton Bluefriars) up to six days a week, since at least the 1960s. At the opposite end of the aqueduct a wharf was constructed serving the Conkwell
Conkwell
Conkwell is a small settlement in Wiltshire on the county border of North East Somerset, England. It is east of the city of Bath. The hamlet was established to house the workers in the local stone quarries...
stone quarries.
Between 2002 and 2004 further restoration was undertaken which included replacing engineering brick
Engineering brick
Engineering bricks are a type of brick used where strength, low water porosity or acid resistance are needed.Clay Engineering bricks are defined in British Standard BS 6100 ‘Glossary of building and civil engineering terms’ as ‘brick sized fired clay units having a dense and strong semi vitreous...
s used by GWR with Bath Stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
to match the original work.
See also
- Avoncliff AqueductAvoncliff AqueductAvoncliff Aqueduct carries the Kennet and Avon Canal over the River Avon and the Bath to Westbury railway line, at Avoncliff in Wiltshire, England.It was built by John Rennie and chief engineer John Thomas, between 1797 and 1801....
- Locks on the Kennet and Avon CanalLocks on the Kennet and Avon CanalThe Kennet and Avon Canal is a canal in southern England. The name may refer to either the route of the original Kennet and Avon Canal Company, which linked the River Kennet at Newbury to the River Avon at Bath, or to the entire navigation between the River Thames at Reading and the Floating...
- List of canal aqueducts in Great Britain