Brassknocker Basin
Fact
The Somersetshire Coal Canal was built to reduce the cost of transporting Somerset coal to Bath. In 1792 an act of parliament authorised construction of the Monmouthshire Canal in South Wales that would have brought coal across the Severnand up the river Avon to Bath so easily and cheaply that it would undercut the price of the local product which was being transported by pack horse and mule. The Somersetshire Coal Canal achieved its first Act of Parliament in 1794.
Starting with a junction from the Kennet and Avon Canal at Dundas Aqueduct, the new canal consisted of a level route as far as Midford where it split in to two routes, a northern line to Paulton via Dunkerton and a southern one to Radstock.
Allsop, Niall. (1993). The Somersetshire Coal Canal Rediscovered: A Walker's Guide. 2nd ed. Millstream Books
Allsop, Niall (1987). Images Of The Kennet And Avon: One Hundred Years In Camera. Redcliffe Press
Clew, Kenneth R. (1970). The Somersetshire Coal Canal And Railways. David & Charles
Clew, Kenneth R. (1968). The Kennet & Avon Canal. 2nd ed. David & Charles
Halse, Roger & Castens, Simon. (2000) The Somersetshire Coal Canal - A Pictorial Journey. Millstream Books
Maggs, Colin G. & Beale, Gerry. (1985). The Camerton Branch. Wild Swan