During the construction of the Kennet and Avon Canal, the important problem of how to supply sufficient water was one that John Rennie faced right from the start. This was particularly the case where the nine-mile level between Bath and Bradford on Avon was concerned and where, additionally, the line chosen was bristling with geological and engineering pitfalls.

Where this latter aspect was concerned, the obvious alternative of bypassing the problem area by extending the Avon navigation above Bath had been explored some years earlier. However, the difficult issues concerning mill owners’ rights (and legislation that fully recognised these) may well have forced Rennie to discount this option. In the event, this section of the canal was cut through unstable, terraced rock and associated material and required the construction of massive aqueducts in a number of places to carry the canal across the River Avon.

Although canalisation of the Avon was not pursued, that river was still an obvious source of water; however, in this case, legislation aimed at protecting mill owners’ rights also placed constraints on what could be done. In providing such protection, the Act stipulated that, if water was taken from the River Avon or associated water courses, the canal company would be required at their own expense to improve the construction of any mill affected so that they performed as much work and were as useful in every respect as they had previously been.

By 1804 construction of the canal had reached a point where the locks at Bath were nearing completion. Rather belatedly, however, it was realised that water supplies from the feeders then in use would not be sufficient to meet lockage requirements at Bath. A number of schemes were considered by the company to overcome this problem, and a decision was finally made later that year to build a pumping station at Claverton Mill on the river Avon. At the time it was estimated that such an arrangement would double the quantity of water that any of the other options might supply.

Lengthy negotiations to purchase the gristmill that stood on the chosen site meant that progress was slow. Additionally, water rights issues, because they applied to the other affected mill owners between Bath and Claverton, took time to fully resolve. However, by 1810, the pump building was completed and, over the next few years, all the associated machinery installed. By the middle of 1813, the Claverton Pumping Station was operating.

Although some changes were made during the early years of operation, much of the pumping machinery that can be seen today is original and was in use for the full period until the pumping station was closed in 1952. Today, the Claverton Pump no longer supplies water to the canal; automatically-controlled electric pumps, which keep the water in the canal within predetermined levels, now perform this task.

Click here to view video of Claverton Pumping Station.
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Contact:
Telephone: 01225 483001 Web: www.claverton.org