Bath Locks (grid reference ST756643 ) are a series of locks, now six locks, situated at the start of the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Bath, England.
Bath Bottom Lock, which is numbered as No 7 on the canal, is the meeting with the River Avon just south of Pulteney Bridge. [1] Alongside the lock is a side pond and pumping station which pumps water up the locks to replace that used each time the lock is opened. [2]
The next stage of Bath Deep Lock is numbered 8/9 as two locks were combined when the canal was restored in 1976. A road constructed while the canal was in a state of disrepair passes over the original site of the lower lock. [3] The new chamber has a depth of 5.92 metres (19 ft 5 in), [4] making it Britain's second deepest canal lock. [5]
Just above the 'deep lock' is an area of water enabling the lock to refill and above this is Wash House Lock (number 10), [6] and soon after by Abbey View Lock (number 11), a Grade II listed building [7] by which there is another pumping station and in quick succession Pulteney Lock (12) and Bath top Lock (13). [8]
Above the top lock the canal passes through Sydney Gardens where it passes through two tunnels [9] [10] and under two cast iron footbridges dating from 1800. Cleveland tunnel is 52.7 metres (173 ft) long and runs under Cleveland House, the former headquarters of the Kennet and Avon Canal Company. The tunnel is a Grade II* listed building. [11]
Many of the bridges over the canal are also listed buildings. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
The locks were restored in 1968 by a collaboration involving staff from British Waterways and volunteer labour organised by the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust. [18]
The River Avon is a river in the southwest of England. To distinguish it from a number of other rivers of the same name, it is often called the Bristol Avon. The name 'Avon' is a cognate of the Welsh word afon, meaning 'river'.
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of 87 miles (140 km), made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section. From Bristol to Bath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, and from there to Reading on the River Thames. In all, the waterway incorporates 105 locks.
Blake's Lock is a lock situated on the River Kennet in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is on the short reach of the River Kennet which is administered as if it were part of the River Thames and is hence owned and managed by the Environment Agency.
Claverton Pumping Station in the village of Claverton, in the English county of Somerset, pumps water from the River Avon to the Kennet and Avon Canal using power from the flow of the river. It is a Grade I listed building, having been upgraded from Grade II in 2019.
The Somerset Coal Canal was a narrow canal in England, built around 1800. Its route began in basins at Paulton and Timsbury, ran to nearby Camerton, over two aqueducts at Dunkerton, through a tunnel at Combe Hay, then via Midford and Monkton Combe to Limpley Stoke where it joined the Kennet and Avon Canal. This link gave the Somerset coalfield access east toward London. The longest arm was 10.6 miles (17.1 km) long with 23 locks. From Midford an arm also ran via Writhlington to Radstock, with a tunnel at Wellow.
Hanham Lock is a canal lock situated on the River Avon, at the village of Hanham near Bristol, England.
Keynsham Lock is a canal lock situated on the River Avon at Keynsham, England.
Kelston Lock is a canal lock situated on the River Avon, between the villages of Kelston and Saltford, between Bristol and Bath, England.
Weston Lock is a canal lock situated on the River Avon, on the western outskirts of Bath, England, in what now forms the Newbridge suburb of Bath.
Bradford Lock is situated at Bradford on Avon on the Kennet and Avon Canal, England.
Tyle Mill Lock is a lock situated near Tyle Mill and the village of Sulhamstead on the Kennet and Avon Canal, England.
Garston Lock is a lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal. It is near the M4 motorway and near Reading, England.
Newbury Lock is a lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal in the town centre of Newbury, in the English county of Berkshire. It has a rise/fall of 3 ft 6 in, and is situated just upstream of Newbury Bridge.
Caen Hill Locks are a flight of 29 locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Rowde and Devizes in Wiltshire, England.
Ufton Lock is a degated lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Padworth and Sulhamstead, Berkshire, England.
Widcombe is a district of Bath, England, immediately south-east of the city centre, across the River Avon.
The buildings and architecture of Bath, a city in Somerset in the south west of England, reveal significant examples of the architecture of England, from the Roman Baths, to the present day. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, largely because of its architectural history and the way in which the city landscape draws together public and private buildings and spaces. The many examples of Palladian architecture are purposefully integrated with the urban spaces to provide "picturesque aestheticism". In 2021, the city was added to a second World Heritage Site, a group of historic spa towns across Europe known as the "Great Spas of Europe". Bath is the only entire city in Britain to achieve World Heritage status, and is a popular tourist destination.
Sydney Gardens is a public open space at the end of Great Pulteney Street in Bath, Somerset, England. The gardens are the only remaining eighteenth-century pleasure gardens in the country. They are Grade II listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.
The Sydney Gardens Tunnels are two canal tunnels on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Bath, UK. The No. 1 Tunnel brings the canal into Sydney Gardens from the south and the No. 2 Tunnel exits the gardens to the north. Both tunnels are Grade II* listed, and are two of three on the waterway—the third being the Bruce Tunnel in Wiltshire.