The former rises on the Badminton Estate and after meandering east, south, west, north and west again reaches the tidal waters of the Severn Estuary west of Bristol at Avonmouth. The other is formed from several waters which join at Upavon and become the Avon that runs south to Salisbury then through Hampshire and eventually to the English Channel at Christchurch, or Twynham, "a town between two waters" as it was called in Saxon times.

Another town between two waters - and the one we should be in - is Malmesbury in the north of the county. Here, just as confusingly there are also two Avons... the Sherston Avon and the Tetbury Avon. But this confusion is understandable because of the widespread use of the Celtic words Avene, Abon and Avon all of which were words for a river or stream.

These two branches of the Avon surround Malmesbury on three sides... which gave this hill-top town a well defended position in earlier times. Leyland wrote,

Once visitors have decided that this is the Avon they seek they can take the "river walk," established by the local Civic Trust in 1971, which circumambulates the town and is a very pleasant hour of anyone's time whatever the season. It can be joined at several points but is worth doing completely to order to see some of the river's wildlife... swans, coot and possibly kingfisher and pike... as well as working farmland and the surrounding countryside... all whilst being within a few minutes of tea and scones or a ploughman's lunch in the town if, or rather, when needed.

There used to be eight mills next to the river, one of which was used by the Abbey monks, others by wool weavers then silk makers. Such was the importance of running water for protection and power, not to mention drinking and cleansing, that settlements sprung up wherever possible alongside rivers, however small the flow. Malmesbury's dominant position on the Bristol Avon is no exception.