Kennet | River, Valley, Wiltshire | Britannica (original) (raw)

Kennet, former district, administrative and historic county of Wiltshire, southern England, in the east-central part of the county, about midway between Bristol and London. Kennet is a rural area of rolling chalk uplands, including Marlborough Downs (about 400 to 950 feet [120 to 290 metres] high) in the north and northeast and the Salisbury Plain (nearly as high) in the south and southeast. The centrally located, fertile clay Vale of Pewsey is surrounded by these chalk uplands on the north, east, and south. The northern and western limits of the area generally coincide with the chalk uplands’ steep western escarpment.

Kennet has many prehistoric monuments, and much of it has been designated by the government as an Area of Outstanding Beauty. The village of Avebury, below the scarp of the northwestern Marlborough Downs, contains remains of massive earthworks and megaliths dating from about 2000 to 1600 bce. Nearby Silbury Hill, extending 130 feet above a chalk ridge, is thought to be the tallest prehistoric mound in Europe.

Cattle and some sheep graze the coarse grass of the Marlborough Downs, and fodder crops are grown. Marlborough is the only parish (town) of consequence in this area. Devizes, in the open end of the Vale of Pewsey, is situated in a mixed farming area with significant cultivation of tobacco.

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Most of the Salisbury Plain in southwestern Kennet has been turned into a mock battle area for military training. The Savernake Forest in southeastern Kennet is a magnificent oak-and-beech woodland containing many trees growing since the 18th century.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Jeff Wallenfeldt.