Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/68

46 at Avon Cliff Aqueduct, it is crossed by the Kennet and Avon Canal; and again, a mile north-west of Monckton Combe, by another aqueduct, called Dundas Aqueduct; from whence, it takes a circuitous route to Bath, at which place it becomes navigable, and continues so through Bristol, to the Severn. The Kennet and Avon Canal locks into the River Avon, at Bath, and the proprietors, under the above acts, have jurisdiction only from the city of Bath to Hanham Mills, the length being eleven miles, with a fall of 30 feet, by six locks.

The river, from Bath, to the tideway at Hanham Mills, was made navigable by certain commissioners, who were appointed by the mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city of Bath, under powers granted them by an act of the 10th of Anne, entitled,  'An Act for making the River Avon, in the counties of Somerset and Gloucester, navigable, from the city of Bath, to or near Hanham Mills.'  The commissioners were thirty-three in number, and amongst them were his Grace the Duke of Beaufort, the Marquis of Worcester, Timothy Goodwin, Bishop of Kilmore and Ardaugh, and Lord Noel. The deed of appointment bears date the 11th of March, 1724.

Until 1813, the barges were towed on this navigation, by men only, in consequence of having neglected, in the act of Anne, to secure a horse towing-path along the banks. The proprietors, (entitled, "The Proprietors of the Tolls arising from the Navigation of the River Avon,") consisting of the Company of Proprietors of the Kennet and Avon Canal Navigation, Sir C. Willoughby, Bart. and ten other persons, found it desirable that such powers should be obtained; they, therefore, applied to parliament, in 1807, and obtained an act, which is entitled,  'An Act for enabling the Proprietors of the Navigation of the River Avon, in the counties of Somerset and Gloucester, from the city of Bath, to or near Hanham Mills, to make and maintain a Horse Towing-Path, for the Purpose of towing and haling, with Horses or otherwise, Boats, Lighters, or other Vessels, up and down the said River.'  Under this act, ten commissioners were added to those appointed under the former act, but the tolls remain unaltered.

Four years after this act of the legislature, (in 1811) a company, consisting of two hundred and eighty-three persons, many