OS grid reference ST784625 Locale Limpley Stoke Heritage status Grade I Opened 1805 Body of water River Avon Architect John Rennie the Elder | Carries Kennet and Avon Canal Maintained by Canal & River Trust Construction started 1795 Total length 137 m Engineer John Rennie the Elder | |
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Crosses River Avon & Wessex Main Line Similar Kennet and Avon Canal, Somerset Coal Canal, Avoncliff Aqueduct, Claverton Pumping Station, Sydney Gardens | ||
Dundas Aqueduct (grid reference ST785625) carries the Kennet and Avon Canal over the River Avon (the Somerset / Wiltshire border) and the Wessex Main Line railway from Bath to Westbury. The nearest village is Limpley Stoke.
It was built by John Rennie and chief engineer John Thomas, between 1797 and 1801 and completed in 1805. James McIlquham was appointed contractor. It is named after Charles Dundas, the first chairman of the Kennet and Avon Canal Company. The aqueduct is 150 yards (137.2 m) long with three arches built of Bath Stone, with Doric pilasters, and balustrades at each end. The central semicircular arch spans 64 feet (19.5 m); the two oval side arches span 20 feet (6.1 m). It is a grade I listed building, and was the first canal structure to be designated as an Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1951.
Over many years leaks had developed and it was closed in 1954. For a while in the 1960s and 1970s, the canal was dry and it was possible to walk along the bed on each side of the river as well as through the aqueduct itself. The aqueduct was relined, with polythene and concrete and restored, reopening in 1984. Care was taken not to disturb a colony of bats living under the aqueduct.
The aqueduct is also the junction between the Kennet and Avon Canal and the largely derelict Somerset Coal Canal. The short stretch of the Somerset Coal Canal still in water forms Brassknocker Basin, used for boat moorings, cycle hire and a cafe. and is next to Dundas Wharf where the small tollhouse, warehouse and crane still stand. Renovation work is being conducted on the wharf. The stretch of river below and above the aqueduct is used by Monkton Combe School Boat Club (Monkton Bluefriars) up to six days a week, since at least the 1960s. At the opposite end of the aqueduct a wharf was constructed serving the Conkwell stone quarries.
Between 2002 and 2004 further restoration was undertaken which included replacing engineering bricks used by GWR with Bath Stone to match the original work.
In 2015, the railway below the aqueduct was lowered to allow the route to be used as a diversionary route for freight trains in the future. Network Rail published a time-lapse video of the work.