Smithy Bridge Over Dearne And Dove Canal - Elsecar, UK - Arch Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Canal
"The Dearne and Dove Canal ran for almost ten miles through South Yorkshire, England from Swinton to Barnsley through nineteen locks, rising 127 feet (39 m). The canal also had two short branches, the Worsbrough branch and the Elsecar branch, both about two miles long with reservoirs at the head of each. The Elsecar branch also has another six locks. The only tunnel was bypassed by a cutting in 1840.

The canal was created mainly to carry cargo from the extensive coal mining industry in the area. Other cargo included pig iron, glass, lime, oil products and general merchandise. A combination of railway competition and subsidence caused by the same mines it served forced the canal into a gradual decline, closing completely in 1961. As the local coal industry also collapsed in the 1980s the canal was thrown a lifeline with the forming of the Barnsley Canal Group who are now attempting to restore the whole canal, an effort further boosted by the abandonment of the railway which replaced it." link

Approximately 1 mile of the canal is is water from the terminus at Elsecar where there is a large heritage centre telling the history of the area.

The Trans Pennine trail a national cycling and walking trail passes through the heritage centre and follows the route of the canal along most of its length.

The Bridge
The bridge is a Historic England Grade II Listed Building.
"Bridge. c1800. Coursed, squared sandstone, tooled-ashlar voussoirs. Single span. Rusticated elliptical arch with band-rusticated ashlar soffit. Swept batter to flanking abutment walls which also curve in alignment with approach roads. Projecting end-piers linked by cambered band beneath parapet wall. Weathered copings, some replaced by concrete. Crosses the Elsecar branch of the Dearne and Dove Canal constructed following an act of 1793 and opened in 1804 but now largely infilled. Charles Hadfield, The Canals of Yorkshire and North-East England, vol2, 1973, pp280-290." link

What type of traffic does this bridge support?: Motor vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists What kind of gap does this bridge cross?: Elsecar branch of the former Dearne And Dove Canal Date constructed: 1800 Is the bridge still in service for its original purpose?: Yes Name of road or trail the bridge services: Smithy Bridge Lane Location: Elsecar, South Yorkshire Length of bridge: Not listed Height of bridge: Not listed

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