Wall To Kennet And Avon Canal On West Side Of Lane

The wall to the Kennet and Avon Canal on the west side of Sham Castle Lane is a masonry structure built around 1800. It was constructed under the supervision of John Rennie, the engineer for the canal. The wall is made of coursed and squared limestone blocks, which are finished more roughly on the Sham Castle Lane side, and features a flat stone coping. Historically, the Kennet and Avon Canal was set into the hillside as it approached the Widcombe flight of locks, which were not opened until 1810, creating a junction with the River Avon. This wall supports the new alignment of Sham Castle Lane and is part of the earlier phase of the canal's construction that extended to Bradford-on-Avon.