Wilts & Berks Canal

Early in the 19th century the newly formed Wilts & Berks Canal Company purchased pieces of land from William Tyrrell, John Anns, Richard Greenaway and the Dean & Chapter of Westminster (and others) to allow the W&B Canal to be built. This crossed the northwest corner of Steventon – where you see the footpath signs by the solar farm along the Hanney Road.

The intention was to provide a cheap supply of coal from Somerset – incidentally including from the coal pits in Timsbury- but water supplies for the canal were a permanent problem. The most profitable times for the canal were when materials were being carried for the construction of the GWR line – which would eventually take most of the trade from the canal. By the 1890s the silting up of the canal meant barges could only be half filled – and so only paid half the tolls. Further leakages etc led to the canal being abandoned in 1914