The River Dun (historically known as Bedwyn Brook) is a tributary of the

River Kennet The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which � ...

, flowing through

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 ...

and

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Its main source is in the parish of

Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunt ...

, Wiltshire and it flows in a northeasterly direction into Berkshire. It discharges into the Kennet at

Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The population of the parish at the 2021 census was 5,869. The Kennet and Avon Can ...

, which has a smaller average flow and width upstream of that point. The Dun valley is an important transport route through the high chalklands between the

London Basin The London Basin is an elongated, roughly triangular sedimentary basin approximately long which underlies London and a large area of south east England, south eastern East Anglia and the adjacent North Sea. The basin formed as a result of compr ...

to the east and the

Vale of Pewsey The Vale of Pewsey or Pewsey Vale is an area of Wiltshire, England to the east of Devizes and south of Marlborough, centred on the village of Pewsey. Geography The vale is an extent of lower lying ground separating the chalk downs of Salisbury ...

to the west. It is the route by 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 ...

(linking London and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

) enters the Thames basin from the Vale of Pewsey, crossing the watershed with the aid of the

Bruce Tunnel The Bruce Tunnel is on the summit pound of the Kennet and Avon Canal between Wootton Top Lock and Crofton Locks in Wiltshire, England. The tunnel is long. It is named after Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury (1729–1814), the lo ...

and Crofton Pumping Station. The later Reading to Plymouth railway linking London and the south-west also follows the valley. The Dun has two named tributaries: the Froxfield Stream joins on the left between Little Bedwyn and Hungerford, and the Shalbourne Stream on the right above Hungerford. During or after the building of the Kennet and Avon Canal in the late 18th century, the Shalbourne was diverted into it. In 2000 the stream was returned to its original course, rejoining the Dun via a culvert under the canal.

References

Dun, Northern River Dun, Northern River 1Dun {{England-river-stub