The earliest settlement in the area of All Cannings was at Rybury Camp, on the downs above the village. There is evidence of settlement from Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman times.
The name is believed to be a derivation of Old Canning and a village probably existed on the current site by the 10th Century as the invading Danes at that time referred to Canning Marsh. There was a church from the early 13th Century and the earliest features in the current All Saints' church are late Norman. By the 14th Century the village had a water mill, although this had disappeared by the 18th Century.
The Kennet and Avon Canal was built just north of the village and opened in 1810. The village's population peaked in the middle of the 19th Century with the 1841census showing 663 inhabitants.
Local Government
All Cannings is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Kennet District Council and Wiltshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.
In the 2002 census, the parish had a population of 616.
Note that the ONS website (see 'Sources' below) refers to the civil parish as Allcannings; it is not clear if this is a valid alternative name or a clerical error on their part.
Canning resigned from office once more in 1820, on this occasion in opposition to the treatment of Queen Caroline, wife of the new King George IV who had become estranged from her husband.
Canning has come to be regarded as a "lost leader", with much speculation about what would have happened had he lived.
Canning was one of the first prominent politicians of the era to openly use the label "Tory", which came into use in the 1790s as a term for the Pittites.
Canning is a method of preservingfood by first heating it to a temperature that destroys contaminating microorganisms, and then sealing it in air-tight jars, cans or pouches.
Because of the danger of botulism and other pathogens, the only safe method of canning most foods is under conditions of both high heat and pressure, normally at temperatures of 240-250°F (116-121°C).