The Wilts & Berks Canal, opened in full in 1810, passed through the parish from southwest to northeast, with a junction near Stanley for its branch to Calne, which followed the Marden valley. Built largely to handle coal from the Somerset Coalfield, the canal saw a decline in traffic in the second half of the century and had fallen into disuse by the end of the century. Partial collapse of the Stanley Aqueduct over the Marden made the canal unusable and it was formally abandoned in 1914.