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 – together with the Avon Navigation, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Thames – links the cities of Bristol and London.
| Kennet | |
|---|---|
The Kennet near Axford, Wiltshire | |
The Avon of North Wiltshire and Somerset (to west, left) and the Kennet flowing into the Thames. Linking canal network in red. | |
| Etymology | Linked to place name: Cunetio (very likely from Celtic kūn, hound) |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| Counties | Wiltshire, Berkshire |
| Towns | Marlborough, Hungerford, Newbury, Reading |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Swallowhead Spring, near Silbury Hill, Wiltshire, United Kingdom |
| • coordinates | 51.50276°N 1.84507°W |
| • elevation | 200 m (660 ft) |
| Mouth | River Thames |
• location | Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom |
• coordinates | 51.459148°N 0.94947°W |
• elevation | 40 m (130 ft) |
| Length | 72 km (45 mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Theale, Berkshire |
| • average | 9.75 m3/s (344 cu ft/s) |
| • minimum | 0.93 m3/s (33 cu ft/s)21 August 1976 |
| • maximum | 70.0 m3/s (2,470 cu ft/s)11 June 1971 |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Newbury, Berkshire |
| • average | 4.64 m3/s (164 cu ft/s) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Knighton, Wiltshire |
| • average | 2.50 m3/s (88 cu ft/s) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Marlborough, Wiltshire |
| • average | 0.85 m3/s (30 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | River Og, River Lambourn |
| • right | River Dun, River Enborne, Clayhill Brook, Foudry Brook |
| Status | Largest tributary of outflow river |
The length from near its sources west of Marlborough, Wiltshire down to Woolhampton, Berkshire is a 111.1-hectare (275-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). This is primarily from an array of rare plants and animals completely endemic to chalky watercourses.
When Wiltshire had second-tier local authorities, one, Kennet District, took the name of the river.
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