STRETTON AQUEDUCT 1832-5 AKA GAILEY AQUEDUCT Thomas Telford Nr. Gailey, Staffordshire SJ873 107 N52o 41’ 38.9” W2o 11’ 18.2”
To find this very original and charming aqueduct, turn off A449 in Gailey at the Spread Eagle pub onto the A5 heading toward Telford. The aqueduct will cross the A5 (the former Roman road now called Watling Street) in about 2 miles.
Telford designed this cast iron aqueduct as part of his improvements to the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal. It was built by William Hazeldine. The aqueduct itself consists of five sections of six and a half feet bolted together. They are supported by six cast iron arched ribs. To match the boldness of the iron trough, Telford designed masonry stone-capped pillars at both ends of the curved brick abutments. The canal is still in use today and the roadway clearance was increased to provide that required for modern traffic by lowering the road bed in 1961-2.