River Kennet

The River Kennet rises near Marlborough in Wiltshire and flows east for 45 miles to join the Thames at Reading. Its upper course passes through the North Wessex Downs, a landscape of chalk downland and prehistoric sites. Swallowhead Spring, one of its sources, lies close to Silbury Hill and Avebury Henge. The Kennet Navigation, completed in the early 18th century under engineer John Hore, links Marlborough to Newbury. The river’s lower reaches form part of the Kennet and Avon Canal, connecting Bristol to London. The Kennet is recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its rare chalk-water plants and animals. It supports water voles, grass snakes, brown trout and brook lamprey, alongside displays of water crowfoot in early summer. The river also carries alien American signal crayfish, which have largely replaced the native white-clawed species. Insect life is abundant, with mayflies, caddisflies and water beetles feeding fish and birds. The Environment Agency monitors its water quality, though a 2013 insecticide spill caused local harm. Visitors can walk sections of the Kennet Navigation, where locks and weirs mark the engineered route. The riverbank path passes mill sites at Ramsbury, Hungerford and Newbury, some still standing after centuries of use. At Chilton Foliat and Hungerford, white drifts of water crowfoot appear in June. The river’s chalky waters flow through quiet meadows and past villages like Uffcott and Broad Hinton, where winterbournes appear in dry seasons. Reading’s Holy Brook, a diverted channel, once powered Reading Abbey’s mills.