Newcastle Road Bridge Over Trent And Mersey Canal - Stone, UK
Posted by: dtrebilc
N 52° 54.267 W 002° 09.167
30U E 556982 N 5861976
This twin span brick bridge carries Newcastle Road over the Trent & Mersey Canal and is bridge 95.
Waymark Code: WM10BRE
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/09/2019
Views: 2
"As its name implies, the Trent and Mersey canal (T & M) was built to link the River Trent at Derwent Mouth (in Derbyshire) to the River Mersey. The second connection is made via the Bridgewater Canal, which it joins at Preston Brook in Cheshire. Note that although mileposts measure the distance to Preston Brook and Shardlow, Derwent Mouth is a mile or so beyond Shardlow.
The plan of a canal connection from the Mersey to the Trent ("The Grand Trunk") came from canal engineer James Brindley. It was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1766 and the first sod was cut by Josiah Wedgwood in July that year at Brownhills, Burslem. In 1777, the canal was completed, including more than 70 locks and five tunnels, with the company headquarters in Stone."
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The bridge is on the outskirts of the town of Stone and carries one of the town's roads.
It stands in front of the bottom gates of lock 29. The main arch of the bridge is for the boats as they access the lock but there is no towpath through this arch.
A separate smaller arch carries the towpath and originally would have been used by the horses towing the boats.
The bridge is a Historic England Grade II Listed Building.
"Canal bridge, lock and towpath tunnel. 1771-2. By James Brindley, engineer. Brick with ashlar dressings. Bridge has elliptical arch and round-arched tunnel to west for horses, ashlar tunnel arch to north has oblique timber roller bar with iron strips to left side for rope. Stone-coped parapets, that to north rebuilt. C19 widening to south. Narrow lock with footbridge to lower end; double lower gates and single upper gate, all timber. A good unaltered example of a rare type, one of a series of items on the Trent and Mersey Canal in Stone. The canal was important for the industrial development of the town. (Lindsay J: The Trent and Mersey Canal: 1979-: 41-44)."
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