Arch Bridge 16 On The Peak Forest Canal – Marple, UK - Stone Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Peak Forest Canal
It is a narrow canal and is fourteen miles long and connects Buxworth with Dukinfiled where it joins the Ashton Canal. The sixteen locks near the town of Marple raise the canal a height of 210 feet in a distance of 1 mile.

The advent of the railways and later modern roads led to the decline of the canal and it fell into disuse between 1920 and 1960. An upsurge in leisure boat use led to the canal being restored and reopened in 1974. Further restoration led to the historical basin at Buxworth reopening in 2003.

Lock 16 Bridge
Most of the 16 locks have small stone arch bridges built over the tail of the locks to give access to both sides of the canal to operate the lock gates. The bridges on these 16 locks are all built in front of the lower lock gates. All the locks on the canal are designed to carry boats with a maximum length of 72 feet and a width of 7 feet. The arch of the bridge does not span the tow path and so it is just slightly wider than 7 feet. Locks are always the narrowest point of the canal and building the bridge next to the lock makes it cheaper and easier to build

This bridge is slighter larger than the most of the others over the locks because it carries a small access road to what used to be large lime kilns used to process the limestone carried from the quarries near to Buxworth. Sadly very little of the original kilns remain.

The lock and bridge is a National Heritage Grade II Listed Building. The listing tells us that it was built between 1803 and 1805.

Physical Location (city, county, etc.): Marple, Greater Manchester Road, Highway, Street, etc.: Lime Kiln Lane Water or other terrain spanned: The Peak Forest Canal Architect/Builder: Designed by Benjamin Outram and Thomas Brown, built by James and Fox. Construction Date: 1804

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