Stone Bridge 11 Over The Macclesfield Canal – High Lane, UK - Arch Bridges on Waymarking.com

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 an English Heritage Grade II Listed Building link "Road bridge. Completed by 1831. William Crossley engineer. Dressed stone. Elliptical horseshoe keystone arch. Parapet walls with stone band and rounded copings are terminated in square piers."

The bridge carries the A6 across the canal which is one of the main historic north-south roads in England. It currently runs from Luton inBedfordshire to Carlisle in Cumbria. Being such an important road this bridge is much wider than most on the canal.

The bridge was built on a slight bend in the canal, and as horses towed the canal boats, the tow ropes rubbed against the bridge sides and cut deep grooves into the stone abutments. In order to protect the bridge a metal post was attached to the side of the bridge. This was done on many bridges on the canal but only a few still remain.

In this case the metal fixings are still attached to the bridge but the pole itself no longer remains.

What type of traffic does this bridge support?: Motor vehicles, bikes and pedestrians What kind of gap does this bridge cross?: The Macclesfield Canal Date constructed: 1831 Is the bridge still in service for its original purpose?: Yes Name of road or trail the bridge services: Buxton Road, the A6 Location: High Lane, Greater Manchester Length of bridge: Not listed Height of bridge: Not listed

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