Pasturefields Bridge Over Trent And Mersey Canal - Great Haywood, UK
Posted by: dtrebilc
N 52° 49.250 W 002° 00.600
30U E 566713 N 5852799
This single arch brick bridge is an accommodation bridge for a nearby farm and is bridge number 77.
Waymark Code: WM10DP7
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/19/2019
Views: 3
"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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There are farm fields on both sides of the canal and this bridge gives access to fields on both sides. On the west side of the bridge some of the fields are a salt marsh nature reserve and the bridge also gives access to a small car park here.
The bridge is a Historic England Grade II Listed Building.
"Canal accommodation bridge. Late C18. Brick with stone coping. Single span with towpath and humped back. Segmental headed arch. Swept wings terminating in piers at all 4 corners. Stone springing stones. Stone plaque at crown on both sides. Wooden post with cast iron guard plate at edge of jamb on north west towpath side. Minor repairs. The Trent and Mersey Canal was built between 1766 and 1777 by James Brindley and Hugh Henshall. Charles Hadfield, The Canals of the West Midlands (1966) Jean Lindsay, The Trent and Mersey Canal (1979)"
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