 Dauntsey Lock is on the former Wilts and Berks Canal (presently being restored), the course of which runs alongside the Bristol-London mainline railway.Malmesbury Abbey was granted an estate at Dauntsey in 850, and the Domesday Book of 1086 recorded a settlement of 26 households.The Brinkworth Brook defined the northern boundary of the parish, and the Avon most of the western; to the south the natural boundary is the ridge which forms the southern limit of the Vale.