Forgotten canal route through Melksham uncovered in new book

The story of a former canal which ran through Melksham has been uncovered in a new online book.

The Lost Waterway of Melksham, by Peter Williams, traces the history of the Wilts & Berks Canal from Semington to Lacock.

It features unprecedented research, as well as previously unpublished photographs and documents.

The Wilts & Berks Canal opened in 1810, and for more than a century, narrowboats pulled by horses and donkeys carried stone, timber, salt, beer, flour, beans, oil and other items. At its peak in 1840, more than 55,000 tons of coal were brought through the Semington junction from the Somerset coalfields.

However, it was abandoned in 1914, partly due to competition from the railways.

Peter, a music teacher, became interested in the route after volunteering with the Melksham, Chippenham & Calne branch of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust.

He was working on a Melksham trail guide for walkers when he realised the footpath he used as a child between Waverley Gardens and West End was the original line of the towpath.

He said, “People are still surprised to discover that Melksham was once served by a major waterway, with a busy wharf just a short distance from the town centre. It’s fascinating to think that narrowboats were travelling where homes and gardens stand today.

“Much of the original route was redeveloped after the canal was abandoned but a surprising amount of evidence still exists today. This includes not only notes and photographs but also the physical remains.

“Even after all this time, a bridge parapet is clearly visible at the junction of Lowbourne and Forest Road next to the entrance to King George V Park and a culvert still carries Clackers Brook under the canal embankment at Hampshire Place, more than 200 years after it was built. Some small parts of the towpath are now public rights of way between houses.”

The book includes maps, letters, receipts, newspaper articles and dozens of archive images and sketches from as early as the 1890s, together with details of several generations of the same family who all worked on the canal.

Peter said, “I’ve been researching this book for almost 30 years. There’s so much hidden history and I’ve tried to bring it to life with the stories of those who lived or worked along its banks.”

The free book is available to view in the ‘blog’ section of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust’s illustrated history website and comes as the charity hopes to receive planning approval for a new ‘Melksham Link’ to reconnect with the nearby Kennet & Avon Canal.

For more information, visit https://images.wbct.org.uk/