River Kennet

Kennet
River
The Kennet near Axford.
Country	England
Counties	Wiltshire, Berkshire
Tributaries
- left	River Og, River Lambourn
- right	River Dun, River Enborne, Clayhill Brook, Foudry Brook
Towns	Marlborough, Hungerford, Newbury
Source
- location	Swallowhead Spring, near Silbury Hill, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
- elevation	200 m (656 ft)
- coordinates	51°30′10″N 1°50′42″W / 51.50276°N 1.84507°W / 51.50276; -1.84507
Mouth	River Thames
- location	Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom
- elevation	40 m (131 ft)
- coordinates	51°27′33″N 0°56′58″W / 51.459148°N 0.94947°W / 51.459148; -0.94947Coordinates: 51°27′33″N 0°56′58″W / 51.459148°N 0.94947°W / 51.459148; -0.94947
Length	72 km (45 mi)
Discharge	for Theale, Berkshire
- average	9.75 m3/s (344 cu ft/s)
- max	70.0 m3/s (2,472 cu ft/s) 11 June 1971
- min	0.93 m3/s (33 cu ft/s) 21 August 1976
Discharge elsewhere (average)
- Newbury, Berkshire	4.64 m3/s (164 cu ft/s)
- Knighton, Wiltshire	2.50 m3/s (88 cu ft/s)
- Marlborough, Wiltshire	0.85 m3/s (30 cu ft/s)

The Kennet is a river in the south of England, and a tributary of the River Thames. The lower reaches of the river are navigable to river craft and are known as the Kennet Navigation. This, together with the Avon Navigation, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Thames, links the cities of Bristol and London. The former local government district of Kennet in Wiltshire was named after it.

The River Kennet has been assigned as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) from near its sources west of Marlborough down to Woolhampton. This is primarily because it has an extensive range of rare plants and animals that are unique to chalk watercourses.

One of the Kennet's sources is Swallowhead Spring near Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, the other being a collection of tributaries north of Avebury near the rural settlements of Uffcott and Broad Hinton which flow south past Avebury and join up with the waters from Swallowhead Springs. In these early stages it passes close by many prehistoric sites including Avebury Henge, West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill. The land drained by upper reaches has a low water table owing to its position in the North Wessex Downs which is mostly chalk as the upper subsoil, as such many of these stretches are winterbournes depending on precipitation and surrounding soil type.

From there the river flows through Marlborough, Hungerford and Newbury before flowing into the Thames on the reach above Sonning Lock at Reading in Berkshire.