Earning an impressive four and a half stars out of five on Tripadvisor, a rating shared by the Parthenon and Eiffel Tower, visitors have described the site as ‘free and awesome and brilliant', as well as an ‘amazing engineering wonder'.
The Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence, awarded to attractions, accommodation and restaurants that consistently receive outstanding traveller reviews, is the latest accolade for the scheduled monument, after a lock keeper on the flight won the coveted ‘Lock Keeper of the Year' award earlier this year.
Restored by volunteers
The 16 locks at Caen Hill were engineer John Rennie's solution to climbing the very steep hill in Devizes, and were the last part of the 87 mile route of the Kennet & Avon Canal to be completed. After the decline of canal industry left the network to fall into disrepair, the locks were restored by volunteers to full working order and reopened in 1990. The locks are now one of the most impressive examples of 19th century engineering in the country.
Mark Evans, waterway manager at the Canal & River Trust, said: “It's great to get this recognition for Caen Hill, we have a fantastic team of staff and volunteers who keep the locks running and do so much to make visitors welcome. We do really enjoy hearing their feedback, whether it's from someone who's amazed by the sheer scale of the place or has just seen their first kingfisher.
“One of the most impressive things about Caen Hill is the fact that it's over 200 years old and still as spectacular today. We're not sure what John Rennie would have made of Tripadvisor, but we bet he'd be pretty pleased that his locks are still a huge part of Devizes life.”
