Stone Bridge 77 Over The Macclesfield Canal - Congleton, 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 a Historic England Grade II Listed Building link with the following text "Accommodation and roving bridge 1831 by W Crosley. Coursed Keuper sandstone blocks. Horseshoe elliptical arch; projecting carriageway band, concave battered abutments. Seqmental topped projecting coping to the north parapet but half-round flush copings to the south parapet which links to the towpath approach walls."

At this point the tow path changes from one side of the canal to the other. The roving part of the bridge that carries the tow path was designed so that horses could cross from one side of the canal to the other without having to disconnect the tow rope from the canal boat. It is attached to the side of the road bridge so that the road traffic and users of the towpath are kept separate.

The road over the bridge provides access to Lambert's Lane Farm and is at a slightly higher level than the roving towpath part of the bridge.

What type of traffic does this bridge support?: Motor vehicles on top of bridge and pedestrians and cyclists on towpath 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: Unnamed track leading to Lambert's Lane Location: Congleton, Cheshire Length of bridge: Not listed Height of bridge: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/17/2019 Poole/Freeman visited it 06/17/2019 Mike_bjm visited it

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