The upper reaches of the River Kennet near Avebury

The Kennet 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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1704x2272, 2934 KB) River Kennet near Avebury, southern England, GB, photo by me, File links The following pages link to this file: River Kennet Wikipedia:List of images/Places/Europe/United Kingdom/Counties/Wiltshire ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1704x2272, 2874 KB) River Kennet near Avebury, southern England, GB, photo by me, File links The following pages link to this file: River Kennet Wikipedia:List of images/Places/Europe/United Kingdom/Counties/Wiltshire ... Avebury is the site of an enormous henge and stone circles in the English county of Wiltshire, surrounding a village of the same name. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... A tributary (or affluent or confluent) is a contributory stream, a river that does not reach the sea, but joins another major river (a parent river), to which it contributes its waters, swelling its discharge. ... Length 346 km Elevation of the source 110 m Average discharge entering Oxford: 17. ... The Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge The River Avon is a river in the south west of England. ... The Kennet and Avon Canal at Brass-Knocker-Bottom near Bath The Kennet and Avon Canal is a canal in southern England. ... Bristol is an English city and county and one of the two administrative centres of South West England (the other being Plymouth). ... St Stevens Tower - The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster which contains Big Ben London (see also different names) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ...

Course

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. Silbury Hill, part of the complex of Neolithic monuments around Avebury in Wiltshire (which includes the West Kennet Long Barrow), is the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe and one of the worlds largest. ... Wiltshire (abbreviated Wilts) is a large southern English county. ... Avebury is the site of an enormous henge and stone circles in the English county of Wiltshire, surrounding a village of the same name. ... Broad Hinton is a village in the English county of Wiltshire. ... Avebury is the site of an enormous henge and stone circles in the English county of Wiltshire, surrounding a village of the same name. ... Marlborough is a market town in the English county of Wiltshire on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath. ... For other uses, see: Hungerford (disambiguation) Hungerford is a market town by the River Kennet in the English county of Berkshire. ... Newbury is the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in the United Kingdom. ... St Marys Church and market Reading is a town and unitary authority in Berkshire in England, at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, halfway between London and Oxford. ... For other places named Berkshire, see: Berkshire (disambiguation) Berkshire (pronounced Barkshe(e)r; sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a county in the south of England, to the west of London and also bordering on Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Greater London, Surrey, Wiltshire and Hampshire. ...

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 mills of Reading Abbey. The River Lambourn is a river in the English county of Berkshire and a tributary of the River Kennet. ... The River Enborne is a river that rises near Newbury, Berkshire and flows into the River Kennet. ... Foundry Brook is a small stream that flows through Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, and into the River Kennet. ... The Holy Brook is a six mile long channel of the River Kennet in the vicinity of the English town of Reading. ... A watermill is a machine constructed by connecting a water wheel to a pair of millstones. ... Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in Reading, Berkshire, founded by Henry I in 1121 for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors. Contents // Categories: Buildings...

Navigation

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. A wharf (plural wharfs, or (especially in American English) wharves, collectively wharfing or wharfage) is a fixed platform, commonly on pilings, roughly parallel to and alongside navigable water, where ships are loaded and unloaded. ... Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in Reading, Berkshire, founded by Henry I in 1121 for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors. Contents // Categories: Buildings... (see also the List of environmental organizations) The Environment Agency (or Asiantaeth yr Amgylchedd) of England and Wales was created by the Environment Act 1995, along with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. ...

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. // Events July 21 - Treaty of Passarowitz signed November 22 - Off the coast of Virginia, English pirate Edward Teach (best known as Blackbeard) is killed in battle when a British boarding party cornered and then shot and stabbed him more than 25 times. ... Events February 16 - Louis XV of France attains his majority Births February 24 - John Burgoyne, British general (d. ... British Waterways is a government body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Scottish Executive in the United Kingdom. ... Canal locks in England. ...

Etymology

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). Cunt is an English term that refers to the human female genitals. ... Mildenhall, Wiltshire (known to local residents as Minal and not to be confused with Mildenhall, Suffolk) is a small village with a population of around 400, about 2 miles east from the town of Marlborough on the road to Ramsbury. ...

See also

• Rivers of Great Britain

This is a list of rivers of Great Britain. ...

References

• The Silbury Treasure, Michael Dames 1976