Avoncliff is a small village in west

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England, in the north of Westwood parish about southwest of

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire (district), Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset. The town's canal, historic buildings, shops, pubs and restauran ...

. It is the point at which the

Kennet and Avon canal The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of Navigability, navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than sol ...

crosses the river and railway line via the Avoncliff Aqueduct, which was built by John Rennie and chief engineer John Thomas, between 1797 and 1801. The aqueduct consists of three arches and is 110 yards long with a central elliptical arch of 60 ft (18.3 m) span with two side arches each semicircular and 34 ft (10.4 m) across, all with V-jointed arch stones. The

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame, between the tops of two adjacent arches, or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...

and

wing wall A wing wall (also "wingwall" or "wing-wall") is a smaller wall attached or next to a larger wall or structure. Bridges In a bridge, the wing walls are adjacent to the abutments and act as retaining walls. They are generally constructed of the same ...

s are built in alternate courses of ashlar masonry, and rock-faced blocks. The central span sagged soon after it was built and has been repaired many times. There is a picturesque weir on the River Avon where permission for a

micro hydro Micro hydro is a type of hydroelectric power that typically produces from 5 kW to 100 kW of electricity using the natural flow of water. Installations below 5 kW are called pico hydro. These installations can provide power to an ...

electric scheme was applied for from the Environment Agency in 2009, but this is still awaited in 2013. This is a popular starting point for walks along both the canal and the river, and also to Barton Farm Country Park at Bradford-on-Avon. Avoncliff is covered by two Parish Councils;

Winsley Winsley is a large village and civil parish about west of Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Conkwell, Turleigh, Little Ashley and Great Ashley. History The area was probably farmed in Roman times, ...

on the north side of the river and Westwood on the south side. Cross Guns Avoncliff

The Cross Guns Inn was built in the late 17th century and is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Railway

Avoncliff has a tiny railway station, with a one-carriage-length platform in each direction, which used to be called Avoncliff Halt since it was a

request stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a bus stop, stop or train station, station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or drop ...

, requiring people on the platform to wave down the trains. It has become, as of 2011, a regular stop. Services are hourly, run by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

, and generally continue on to Westbury and Weymouth in a southerly direction, or Bristol Temple Meads and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

in a northerly direction.National Rail Enquiries – Station Facilities for Avoncliff
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References

* ''Avoncliff – the Secret History of an Industrial Hamlet in War and Peace'', McCamley, Ex-Libris Press 2004

External links

Avoncliff website

{{authority control Villages in Wiltshire