Caen Hill Locks

Twenty-nine consecutive locks climbing 72 metres — the most spectacular lock flight in England.

The Caen Hill flight is the reason many people come to Devizes. Seen from above — or walked from bottom to top on the towpath — the staircase of lock gates stretching up the hillside is one of those sights that stays with you. On a summer weekend, narrowboats queue at the bottom waiting their turn, and the whole flight becomes a slow-motion spectacle of ropes, windlasses, and churning lock water.

The towpath walk from the canal basin in Devizes town centre out to Caen Hill and beyond is easy and flat until the locks begin. Allow at least an hour to walk the full flight and back; more if you stop to watch boats working through. The locks are fully operational and maintained by the Canal and River Trust. There is a small café at the top of the flight. Early mornings in summer are quietest and the light on the water is best then.

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A story
When engineer John Rennie tackled the problem of raising the Kennet and Avon Canal over the Caen Hill ridge in 1810, he created something extraordinary: 29 consecutive locks packed so tightly that each one has a side pond to conserve water. The flight rises 72 metres in under three kilometres, a gradient that defeated earlier canal builders. It took boats most of a day to work the whole flight, and the lock-keepers' cottages along the way formed a miniature village of their own.