A Must See in the UK - Caen Hill Locks

Hi Everyone,

Today I want to share the beautiful Caen (pronounced Cane) Hill Locks which I was very lucky to live nearby a few years ago before moving back to Somerset. I use to work in the engineering industry as a Bid Manager and that's where I gained my interest in engineering of any sort. It's funny how much you learn even though I am not an engineer in any sort of way nor do I have the academic capability to be one.

This set of locks is classed as one of the seven wonders of the waterways and it was the last stretch of the Kennet & Avon Canal to be built in 1810 and form part of a longer 29-lock flight at Devizes, all packed into just over two miles. The 16 lock flight are designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument which is the same level of heritage protection given to Stonehenge. The locks come in three groups with the lower seven locks, Foxhangers Wharf Lock to Foxhangers Bridge Lock, are spread over three quarters of a mile; the next 16 locks form a steep flight in a straight line up the hillside and the final set take you through Devizes and up to the wharf.

A little history about the canal and locks starts as far back as 1788 where a ‘Western Canal’ was proposed to improve trade and communication links to towns such as Hungerford and Marlborough. 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. 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 proposed route was accepted by the then ‘Kennet and Avon Canal Company'.

While the locks were under construction a tramroad provided a link between the canal at Foxhangers to Devizes. You can still see its remains in the towpath arches in the road bridges over the canal. When the flight of locks opened in 1810 there was a ‘toll’ per ton from London to Bath but it worked out far cheaper than carriage by road. The journey from Bath to Newbury took an average of three and a half days which means that the canal was not only cheaper but faster than road. When the railways came it meant that the canal fell into disuse and was closed.

From the 1960s there was a major clearing and rebuilding operation, where Queen Elizabeth II went to visit in 1990 to open the new locks officially. In 2012 British Waterways became the Canal & River Trust and it's been mantained since.There's even woods nearby named the Caen Hill Diamond Jubilee Woods which was planted in 2012 to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and her 60 years on the throne.

Caen Hill Locks is located on the Kennet & Avon Canal in Devizes which is in Wiltshire. This set of locks is an excellent example of canal engineering anywhere in the UK, in my opinion, and it allows canal boats to climb this hill with ease. To climb this hill in a canal boat you'll have to go through 16 locks and it is the longest continous flight of locks in the country, but the whole stretch including the Devizes locks is 29 locks in total. You'll rise 237 feet over 2 miles and they say to give yourself a day to ascend or descend the locks, descending tends to be quicker thanks to gravity.

The side ponds also play an important role in the operations of the locks as they enable the water supply in the locks to be constantly topped up. Each lock has a side pond which holds one million gallons, therefore when there is a fall of eight feet of water in a lock it only alters the side pond by one inch. Back in the day there use to be a back pump which would pump millions of gallons of water a day up to the top flight to try and keep it all topped up. There are tables & benches on these side ponds where you can relax and take in the nature and beauty.

I've been lucky to have travelled these locks by canalboat as well as foot, in the summer you can go to the locks and help the canal boats open and close the locks. Everyone is open teaching you how the locks operate as well as allowing you to operate them for them, it really is a lovely day activity. There is also a cafe halfway up where you can rest up, grab some refreshments before heading on one of the walking trails or explore the side ponds. I would highly recommend you visiting this beautiful area of the UK, that's not very popular if you don't know the area, definitely a summer visit.

Until next time, stay tuned.