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Industrial Heritage

Find out about the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Great Western Railway and how they helped to support traditional industries in Wiltshire on this itinerary.

1 day itnerary

Morning - Visit STEAM - The Museum of the Great Western Railway and discover how Swindon became a railway giant and world centre for locomotive and carriage building for over a century, thanks to Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Then head for Caen Hill on the Kennet and Avon Canal. With no less than 29 consecutive locks it's an astonishing feat of engineering and enabled the transport of goods and raw materials over the considerable rise of 237 feet. The canal relies on the Crofton Pumping Station, the oldest working steam powered beam engine in the country, to return the water back to the summit.

Lunch - Devizes

Afternoon - A short drive away is Bradford on Avon, which flourished as a major clothing town. Visitors can enjoy looking at the Weavers' Cottages and Abbey Mill, a former cloth mill built in 1875. This imposing structure stands as a defiant gesture in the face of the industry's steep decline.

Why not combine this 1 day itinerary with another of the suggested itineraries for groups?

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