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The upper reaches of the River Kennet near Avebury |
The is a river in the south east of
England , and a
Tributary of the
River Thames . The lower reaches of the river are navigable to river craft and are known as the '''Kennet Navigation''', which, together with the
Avon Navigation , the
Kennet And Avon Canal and the Thames, links the cities of
Bristol and
London .
One of the Kennet's source is
Swallowhead Spring near
Silbury Hill in the county of
Wiltshire , the other being a collection of tributaries to the North of
Avebury near the villages of
Uffcott and
Broad Hinton which flow south past
Avebury and join up with the waters from Swallowhead Springs.
From there the river flows through
Marlborough ,
Hungerford and
Newbury before flowing into the Thames at
Reading in
Berkshire .
The upper reaches of the River Kennet are served by two tributaries. The
River Og which flows into the Kennet at Marlborough and the
River Dun which enters at Hungerford. The Kennet's principal tributaries are the
River Lambourn , the
River Enborne and the
Foudry Brook . For six miles to the west of, and through, Reading, the Kennet supports a secondary channel, known as the
Holy Brook , which formerly powered the
Water Mill s of
Reading Abbey .
The River Kennet is navigable from the junction with the Thames at Kennet Mouth near Reading, upstream to Newbury where it joins the Kennet and Avon Canal.
The first mile of the river, from Kennet Mouth to the High Bridge in Reading, has been navigable since at least the thirteenth century, providing
Wharfage for both the townspeople and
Reading Abbey . Originally this short stretch of navigable river was under the control of the Abbey; today it is administered by the
Environment Agency as if it were part of the River Thames.
From High Bridge through to Newbury, the river was made navigable between
1718 and
1723 under the supervision of the engineer
John Hore of Newbury, and this stretch of the river is now administered by
British Waterways and known as the Kennet Navigation. Throughout the navigation, stretches of natural riverbed alternate with 11 miles of artificially created
Lock cuts, and twenty locks overcome a rise of 130 feet.
It was formerly known as the "Cunnit". Local historian
Michael Dames claims the name is related to the word "
Cunt ", though it is more likely derived from the nearby Roman settlement of
Cunetio (now
Mildenhall ).
- ''The Silbury Treasure'', Michael Dames, 1976.
