The Kennet and Avon Canal. Steve Davison

in 1807 so that water from natural springs at Wilton could be raised by 12m to the summit of the canal to replenish the water lost each time a boat went through a lock. Wilton Water, on the opposite bank, was created in 1836 to provide a larger store of water that could be pumped into the canal. Although electric pumps are now used to pump water into the canal, Crofton’s magnificent steam-driven beam engines – one of which is the oldest working beam engine in the world – are still used on several occasions throughout the year (01672 870300).

      The route continues along the south side of the canal, passing five locks and the brick abutments of the former railway bridges of the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway. After passing Crofton Top Lock (55), the route is following the highest section – the summit pound – of the canal, which stretches for 4km to Cadley Lock (54).

      At Wolfhall Bridge (103), a track heads south for 600 metres to Wolfhall. Suddene Park Farm, which offers B&B and a campsite, is 500 metres further on.

      Wolfhall was once the home of Sir John and Lady Margaret Seymour. Their daughter Jane married Henry VIII as his third queen and gave him a son (Edward VI); Henry VIII visited Wolfhall in 1535 and 1539. The great manor has long since disappeared; the present Wolfhall Manor is Victorian. The house gave its name to Hilary Mantel's novel Wolf Hall.

      Shortly before the entrance to the Bruce Tunnel, fork up to the left (or turn up the steps at the tunnel entrance and then turn right) and keep ahead to cross the minor road. Just to the left is the former Savernake Forest Hotel, built in 1864 (now private houses).

      The plaque at the Bruce Tunnel commemorates a local landowner, Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, Earl of Ailesbury

      The 459-metre-long Bruce Tunnel (the only long tunnel on the canal) is named after the local landowner, Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, Earl of Ailesbury, who lived at nearby Tottenham House. The tunnel has no towpath, which meant that the horse-drawn barges had to be pulled through the tunnel by the boatmen using chains fixed to the walls, while the horses were taken over the top.

      Continue along the enclosed path, soon heading down steps to pass under the railway, and then bear left along the south side of the canal to pass Burbage Wharf just after passing under the A346 bridge (104).

      Burbage Wharf is home to a replica wharfside crane

      At Burbage Wharf, on the opposite bank, is a replica wharfside crane (private). These were once a common sight along the canal. Just to the north is Savernake Forest, a tranquil remnant of a much larger medieval royal hunting ground, first mentioned in a Saxon charter dated AD934. William the Conqueror gave Savernake to one of his knights, and it has passed in an unbroken line for over 30 generations. Although privately owned, it has been leased to the Forestry Commission and walkers can explore large parts of the forest.

      To the south there is a pub at Stibb Green (Three Horseshoes, 01672 810324) and at Burbage there is a pub (White Hart, 01672 810336) and shop.

      After Cadley Lock (54) and bridge, the canal heads downhill all the way to Bristol and the water that passes through each lock now drains towards the River Avon; prior to this point the water drains towards the River Thames. Continue past a further two locks with bridges to reach another lock (51) and the road bridge (108) at Wootton Rivers. Some 375 metres north along the road is the thatch-roofed Royal Oak pub (01672 810322, accommodation); 1.9km south at Easton Royal is the Bruce Arms pub and campsite (01672 810216).

      First recorded in AD804, Wootton Rivers gained part of its name from the de la Rivière family, who held the manor from the early 13th century. In the mid 15th century, the manor was sold to Sir John Seymour of Savernake and then passed through a succession of Seymours and Dukes of Somerset until it was bequeathed to St John’s College, Cambridge, in 1692.

      St Andrew’s Church, which dates from the 14th century, has a picturesque wooden steeple and a clock made in 1911 by local man John Spratt to commemorate George V’s coronation. On one face of the clock, the numbers have been replaced with the words ‘Glory be to God’.

      The route now follows the longest pound (section between neighbouring locks) of the canal, stretching for 24km (15 miles), so there are no locks all the way to Devizes (Stage 4).

      Cross the road and continue along the south side for 4km to reach the fifth bridge (Pains Bridge, 113). Here a gate on the left gives access to Jones’s Mill Nature Reserve (Wiltshire Wildlife Trust). The White Horse Trail crosses here, leading to Pewsey. To visit, head south along the track and along Hollybush Lane; at the mini-roundabout, turn right along the B3087 to the Market Place (1.5km each way).

      Jones’s Mill was previously used as a traditional water meadow that was allowed to flood with mineral-rich spring-fed waters during the winter to produce an early growth of grass in the spring. Plants such as yellow iris and great horsetail thrive here as well as rarer plants including bog pimpernel.

      To complete the stage, keep ahead for 800 metres to arrive at Pewsey Wharf and the A345. Here there is a car park, bus stop for services between Salisbury and Swindon (except Sundays), and a pub: the Waterfront (01672 564020).

      For Pewsey village and railway station

      To reach the railway station, turn left following the road (pavement) for 800 metres; before the railway bridge, fork right to the station. For the village, keep ahead along the road for 25 metres and just before the railway bridge turn left along Ways Way for 100 metres. Then turn right along Buckleaze Lane to the A345 and bear left along the A345 for 400 metres to the Market Place (this avoids the narrow section on the A345 under the railway bridge where there is no pavement).

      PEWSEY

      The history of Pewsey can be traced back to Saxon times, when it was held by Alfred the Great, who became King of Wessex in AD870; in 1913, a statue of Alfred was unveiled in the Market Place to commemorate the Coronation of King George V. In AD940, Alfred’s grandson Edmund granted the royal estate to St Peter’s Abbey in Winchester (later Hyde Abbey) and they held the manor until Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries.