Dundas Aqueduct
Local highlightJohn Rennie's Bath-stone aqueduct carrying the canal high over the Avon valley, and the first canal structure ever protected
The Dundas Aqueduct carries the Kennet & Avon Canal across the valley of the Bristol Avon, a couple of miles south-east of Bath in Somerset. It was designed by John Rennie, built between 1797 and 1801 and completed in 1805, and is a broad, formal piece of masonry in honey-coloured Bath stone — three arches, the central one wide and semicircular, framed by Doric pilasters and a balustrade above. It spans the river and the railway line below in a single confident sweep, and is generally reckoned one of the handsomest structures on the whole canal.
It is named after Charles Dundas, the first chairman of the Kennet & Avon Canal Company. In 1951 it became the first canal structure in Britain to be given legal protection as a scheduled monument, and it is also listed at Grade I. At its eastern end, at Dundas Wharf, the long-disused Somerset Coal Canal once joined the main line, bringing coal down from the Radstock pits; a short arm survives there as moorings.
The aqueduct is free and open at any time — the towpath crosses it, so you simply walk over. It sits on the most scenic stretch of the canal, between Bradford-on-Avon and the sister aqueduct at Avoncliff, and makes an easy walk or cycle from either. There is a car park and a canalside café at the wharf, and boat trips run from here in season.
