 The Kennet and Avon Canal was the realisation of a plan to link the River Avon to the River Thames and hence Bristol to London, which had first been suggested in the late 1500s, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.The canal was surveyed by John Rennie and following a change of route, which resulted in the canal passing through Devizes and hence Semington, rather than Marlborough and Calne, an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1794 to authorise the plan and work began.The eastern section opened first, with the line from Newbury and the River Kennet to Hungerford opening in 1798, and from there to Great Bedwyn opening the following year.