days are Thursday and Saturday). Straight on leads to Bartholomew Street and St Nicolas’ Church (keep ahead and you soon rejoin the canal at West Mills). To access the railway station, head south through the Market Place, then follow Cheap Street for 300 metres, later curving right to the station.
In the late 15th century, Newbury was highly regarded for its cloth and the town’s most famous clothier was John Smallwood (or Winchcombe), known as ‘Jack of Newbury’. He helped fund the rebuilding of St Nicolas’ Church (visited in Walk 4), a fine example of an early 16th-century Perpendicular-style ‘wool church’; the church contains a memorial to him.
To the south-east of the town is Newbury Racecourse, which opened in 1905, and Greenham Common (visited in Walk 3), a name synonymous with women’s peace camps during the Cold War. The airbase has now gone and much of the land has been reverted to open common, home to a wide variety of wildlife.
Continue along the north side of the canal towards Town Bridge (60). Go straight across the pedestrianised street heading towards the Lock, Stock and Barrel pub (01635 580550), bear left through the alleyway to the canal and turn right along the towpath over Lock Island passing Newbury Lock (85). To the right is a granite sculpture called Ebb and Flow, by Peter Randall-Page, which fills and empties with the movement of water through the lock.
Cross the canal at the swing bridge (62) to join West Mills road and turn right between the cottages and the canal. Follow the south side of the canal for 1.3km, heading towards open countryside, before crossing over via the bridge (64) just before Guyer’s Lock (84). On the way, across the canal, is the brick abutment of a bridge that carried the Lambourn Valley Railway over the canal; the line, which opened in 1898, finally closed in 1973.
Continue for 7.2km, passing under the A34, then passing a lock (83) and the railway bridge (65), then another bridge (66) and lock (82) to reach a minor road bridge beside a pillbox, with Marsh Benham to the right. For the Red House pub (01635 582017), turn right along the road to the crossroads and go right (600 metres each way); left leads to Hamstead Marshall.
Hamstead Marshall originally developed close to the banks of the River Kennet and this is where the 12th-century St Mary’s Church is located. In 1661, the 1st Earl of Craven commissioned the Dutch architect Sir Balthazar Gerbier to build a grand mansion in Hamstead Park. Unfortunately the house was extensively damaged by fire in 1718 and was later demolished; all that remain today are several pairs of elaborate gateposts just south of the church (visited on Walk 5). A quick look at the map reveals that there are three earth mounds near the church that were built as motte-and-bailey castles during the late 11th or early 12th century.
After crossing the road, continue straight on past three more locks: Hamstead (81), Copse (80) and Dreweat’s (79). On the opposite bank, after Dreweat’s Lock, is Irish Hill, the site of an old whiting works, where chalk was ground into a fine powder for use in products such as paint. Keep ahead past Shepherd’s Bridge (73) to arrive at the road bridge (75) at Kintbury. Just to the right is the railway station, across the road is parking and toilets, and to the left is the perfectly located canalside Dundas Arms pub (01488 658263, accommodation).
Kintbury is home to the picturesque 12th-century St Mary’s Church, which houses several interesting monuments. To visit the church, either turn left along the road for 400 metres or turn left at the next bridge (76) and follow the path up past the Old Vicarage. A local legend tells of the Kintbury Great Bell, which once hung in the church tower; when the tower was destroyed by a great storm, the bell supposedly sank into the River Kennet and has remained hidden there ever since, despite many attempts to retrieve it.
There is also a shop and post office, the Blue Ball pub (01488 608126) and the Cocochoux Cake Café (01488 658717).
Continue along the north side of the canal for 3.7km, passing three locks (78, 77 and 76) and five bridges. After the first bridge (76), look left for a view of the 19th-century Old Vicarage, with the church tower behind. An earlier vicarage stood on the same site and was visited on a number of occasions by the great romantic novelist Jane Austen.
Wire Lock (76) between Kintbury and Hungerford
The River Kennet is quite close at times, on the right, as the canal approaches a minor road at Dunmill Bridge (82); this is the last time that we see the River Kennet – the canal now follows the River Dun towards Crofton. A short way to the left along the road is a car park (SU 351 681). Some 100 metres to the right, past a pillbox, is the picturesque Denford Mill, once used as a fulling mill, where rough woven cloth was cleaned and thickened (now a private house).
Cross over the canal via the bridge and continue along the south side past Dunmill Lock (75); up to the left are two World War II pillboxes and to the right, across the canal, is the 18th-century Dun Mill; the first mention of a mill here was in the early 1400s.
Across the canal, near Hungerford, stands 18th-century Dun Mill
At the next bridge (83), a track on the left leads to the railway station (100 metres). The route keeps ahead to reach the old wharf just after passing under the A338 (bridge 84) in Hungerford; for the main street, turn left.
HUNGERFORD
The market town of Hungerford, the name of which is derived from a Saxon word meaning ‘hanging wood ford’, lies close to the western edge of Berkshire. The town is the only place in the country that still holds the Hocktide Festival, which relates to the rights of the commoners; the highlight is Tutti Day (second Tuesday after Easter), when the Hocktide Court is held and the Tutti Men visit every house with common rights. The present St Lawrence’s Church (passed in Stage 3), built from Bath stone transported along the canal, dates from 1816; inside is the much mutilated effigy of Sir Robert de Hungerford (d.1352).
About 200 metres north along the A338, at the junction with the A4, is the Bear Hotel. It was here, in 1688 during the ‘Glorious Revolution’, that William of Orange stayed on his way from Devon to London, having been invited to ‘invade’ England by Protestant nobles who were disenchanted with the rule of the Catholic King James II. Days later, James II fled to France, opening the way for William to rule jointly as William III with Mary II; a plaque on the wall commemorates the historic event.
STAGE 3
Hungerford to Pewsey Wharf
| Start | Hungerford A338 bridge (SU 338 687) |
| Finish | Pewsey Wharf (SU 157 610) |
| Distance | 22.8km (14¼ miles); cumulative 68.4km (42½ miles) |
| Total ascent | 150m |
| Time | 6hr |
| Map | OS Explorer 157 and 158; Heron Maps: Kennet & Avon Canal |
| Refreshments | Hungerford, Froxfield, Great Bedwyn, Crofton, Wilton, Stibb Green, Wootton Rivers, Easton Royal, Pewsey Wharf, Pewsey |
| Public transport | Railway stations at Hungerford, Great Bedwyn, Pewsey; bus services at Hungerford, Froxfield, Great Bedwyn, Pewsey Wharf, Pewsey |
| Accommodation | Hungerford, Froxfield, Crofton, Wolfhall, Wootton Rivers, Easton Royal, Pewsey |
| Splitting the stage | The stage may be split after 7.9km (5 miles) at Great Bedwyn (SU 280 644), where there is a railway station and parking. |
Stage 3 leaves behind West Berkshire and heads into Wiltshire. For most of this section, as in the previous two stages, the canal is followed by the railway, which opened in 1862 and now forms the line from London to the south-west. After passing through historic Great Bedwyn, the canal arrives at Crofton Pumping Station and Beam Engines, home to the oldest working steam-driven beam engine in the world. The canal then heads for the Vale of Pewsey, described by William Cobbett in his Rural Rides
