Stone Bridge 25 Over The Macclesfield Canal – Adlington, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 18.418 W 002° 06.621
30U E 559279 N 5906788
This bridge known as Whitley Green Bridge was erected when the canal was built in 1830 and carries Holehouse Lane over the canal.
Waymark Code: WMQFVW
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/23/2016
Views: 2
The Macclesfield Canal
The Macclesfield Canal was one of the last narrow canals to be built, indeed, it was very nearly built as a railway! A variety of ideas were proposed and the present canal was approved by Act of Parliament in April 1826. The route of the canal was surveyed by Thomas Telford and construction was engineered by William Crosley. The completed canal was opened on 9th November 1831 at a cost of £320,000.
The route takes the canal from Marple Junction with the Peak Forest Canal in the north 26¼ miles to the stop lock at Hall Green near Kidsgrove passing along the side of the most westerly Pennine hills through High Lane, Higher Poynton, Bollington, Macclesfield and Congleton, all in Cheshire, and Kidsgrove in Staffordshire in the south. Nowadays we normally regard the last 1½ miles to Harding's Wood Junction with the Trent & Mersey Canal as a part of the Macclesfield Canal although it was built as a branch of the T&MC.
link
The Bridge
This bridge is a Historic England Grade II Listed Building
link with the following text "Canal bridge: C1830 by William Crosley for the Macclesfield Canal Company. Hammer-dressed buff sandstone. Horseshoe elliptical arch with a chamfered coping at road level. Plain parapet with a rounded coping ends in square pilasters. Steps against south west face. The standard bridge on this canal and there are 6 other complete examples in Adlington (q.v.)."
The bridge is on a slight bend in the canal and the arch stones have grooves cut in them from where the tow ropes on the horse drawn boats rubbed against them.