The canal through Stonehouse runs along a ledge on the north side of the Frome valley, passing Stonehouse Court, and it once served the town's coal wharf and five woollen cloth mills in the valley below. Fine examples of former industrial buildings and/or mill owner's houses have survived, and these can be viewed by a short walk down hill from any of the bridges.
This stretch of canal remained 'in water' long after it was closed to navigation in 1954 as it served as a water supply channel to a Second World War factory making vital ball bearings.
