West Midlands
VICTORIA BRIDGE 1897 Hereford SO513 394 {N52 3’ 42.84” W2 44’ 18”}
This pretty Victorian suspension footbridge of iron lattice pylons and open lattice balustrade of 200 feet crosses the Wye River near the Cathedral and within Castle Green. It is later than our period, but fully in the tradition of Llanstephan, Bucklands, Port Hill, and Campus’o May suspension bridges with truss towers capped with finials.
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- Category: Herefordshire
CROOME PARK BRIDGES 1796 Worcestershire N52o 47' 30.2" W2o 1' 45.3"
For the last 12 years, the National Trust has been restoring the gardens of Capability Brown's first commission whose naturalistic concept revolutionized English landscape design which until then had been following the highly stylized design of Italian and French gardens. In 1751, the First Earl of Coventry also commissioned Robert Adams and then James Wyatt to redo the house and the parkland buildings in the new Palladian or Georgian style. This pair of white wrought iron bridges providing access to the lake islands were designed by Wyatt and built by John Mackell, who was well-known in the area for his iron work. They seem very modern to our eyes because of their elegant simplicity. (There is a modern bridge nearby, painted black, which is similar to them but which just misses achieving their graceful proportions).
This site is well signed from A38 between Worcester and Tewksbury starting in Severn Stoke. The problem comes in finding your way out in the confusing maze of small villages and country roads which are not signed in reverse. Memorize your lefts and rights as you go in!
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- Category: Worcestershire
BEVERE ISLAND BRIDGE 1844 Worchester N52o 47’ 30.2” W2o 1’ 45.3”
This graceful, shallow arch bridge with handsome brick abutments with flaring approach walls and capped pediments seems quite out of place in the fields. It spans a branch of the Severn just above a weir between the main land and Bevere Island just north of Worchester on the A449. It has open spandrels with simple vertical bars and three ribs which are further braced by rods and cross bars underneath. The railings are of simple vertical fencing.
It was once carried a carriage drive over the Severn River to a private estate on the Island owned by the reclusive Mr. Moon who was the Chief Engineer of the London/North Western Rail Co. and who retired to his Bevere Island propery according to Mr Max Sinclair, local historian. Mr Moon was prone to unannounced inspections, so the signal men would warn each other of his approach by telegraphing “Moonlight tonight” to each other. Mr Sinclair claims this is the origin of the expression “Moonlighting”.
It is difficult to find, but it is on a public footpath. On the A449 heading towards Ombersley, look closely for a small turn-off to the left marked “Lock Lane”. Proceed, bearing left, to the end and a stile at an iron farm gate with circle design. Follow the footpath along the right edge of two fields with stiles between. Just before the brick wall of a residence at the end of the second field, take a path downhill toward the river. At the bottom, turn left along river to two more stiles and fields to finally see the bridge spanning the waterway but leading to nowhere now.
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- Category: Worcestershire
HOLT FLEET BRIDGE 1828 Thomas Telford Nr. Ombersley, Worchestershire HEW 135 SO 824 634 N53o 5’ 37.7” W3o 48’ 28.1”
To find this charming bridge exit Ombersley on the A4133 towards Ludlow which will take you across this bridge a mile or so to the west in the riverside port of Holt Fleet.
This simple, single span bridge arches 150 feet across the Severn River with the grace and flair of all Telford’s bridges. The substantial red sandstone abutments and flood arches give an architectural flair to the simple spandrels of cast iron struts and tie rods. There are five cast iron arched ribs. The whole is secured with mortise and tendon joints and cast iron wedges. The deck plates rest on cast iron beams six inches deep. It was built by William Hazeltine.
As you will notice, in 1928 the bridge was strengthened with reinforced concrete which encases the upper and lower side of the arch ribs over their full span and width. In addition, the bridge was sensitively widened by extending the roadway over the outer arches with a new concrete roadbed.
The sandstone abutments are in scale to the bridge and the whole effect is of airy strength and grace. The bridge was strengthened with reinforced concrete deck which is cantilevered over the edge to widen the roadway.
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- Category: Worcestershire
GREAT HAYWOOD CANAL FOOT BRIDGE 1840’s N52o 47’ 58.6” W2o 0’ 24.4”
This footbridge, perhaps once a carriage way, across the Stafford/Stourport Canal at Great Haywood, is a charming example of the individual iron bridges built across canals by adjacent property owners. This one is perhaps by Joseph Brindley. It has a gothic theme in its railing design, so may date from the Regency period of around 1820. Walk to the canal under the railroad viaduct and cross the stone canal bridge to take the tow path on the other side, turning to your left.
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- Category: Staffordshire
EGGINTON BRIDGE 1812 Staffordshire SK254 277 N52o 47’ 30.2” W2o 1’ 45.3”
PRIVATE PROPERTY This poor, dilapidated survivor is a good testament to the endurance of iron bridges ! It probably once carried a carriage drive over the outlet of an ornamental lake but today is hidden by trees in the middle of the farm fields. It has a elliptical arch of 27 feet and is proudly signed “1812 Coalbrookdale” and certainly has their trademark ‘diminishing circles’ spandrel design. On one side it has three brick flood arches. It has lost its railing and only two of the posts with their scroll brackets remain. The locals call it “the Coalbrookedale Bridge,” but it is on private land with access to strangers only by permission of the farmer. The village of Egginton is just off the A38 southwest of Derby on A5132.
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- Category: Staffordshire
CHETWYND BRIDGE 1824 nr. Alrewas, Staffordshire HEW 168 SK187 139 N52o 43’ 20.5” W1o 43’ 17.6”
This very bold bridge designed by Joseph Potter and cast at Coalbrookdale spans the River Tame in three shallow arches, the outer two being close to 72 feet each and the center arch being 81 feet. There are five ribs in each arch and the spandrels have a triangular pattern. The total width of the roadbed and a narrow footpath is 18 feet. The masonry work is especially bold and pleasing with substantial piers and curving abutments each of them terminating in a stone capped pilaster.
To find this “brother” of the High Bridge at Handsacre, take the A513 past Alrewas and over the A38 in the direction of Tamworth for about a mile.
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- Category: Staffordshire
SHUGBOROUGH 1813 Staffordshire SJ993 227
THE RED BRIDGE N52o 47’ 30.2” W2o 1’ 45.3”
This charming “Chinese” bridge of cast iron is located in the grounds of Shugborough Park which is open to the public by the County Council, although the house itself (once owned by the Anson family) is owned by the National Trust. It is located on the A513 six miles east of Stafford. The bridge was designed by Charles Heywood and manufactured by John Toye.
The bridge is very fortunate in its setting beside a “Chinese” pavilion on the edge of the pond which it spans to an island. It has a very shallow arch spanning 42 feet, six inches with the “descending open ring” design in the spandrels. The parapet railings are simple, but there is a grouping of decorative lattice “pillars” at both ends with crown caps.
THE BLUE BRIDGE 1814 N52o 47’ 56.1” W2o 0’ 53.9” For this longer span, Charles Heywood used three arches with the diminishing circles design in the spandrels, but he repeated the delightful lattice “pillars” at both ends and there are lattice work panels marking the termination of each arch. This bridge is not located in the public-access area, but you can see it by walking on the path of the mansion gardens facing the decorative lake/waterway, as it was located to be viewed across them from the terraces on the backside of the house. Look to your left across the water.
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- Category: Staffordshire
HIGH BRIDGE HANDSACRE 1830 Staffordshire SK092 167 N52o 44’ 55.3” W1o 51’ 55.6”
(Also known as the Mavesyn Ridware Bridge by the inhabitants of the opposite bank of the River Trent ) It was designed by Joseph Potter and cast at Coalbrookdale. It is a brother to the Chetwynd Bridge near Alrewas, Staffordshire which was also designed by Potter, cast at Coalbrookdale and built a few years earlier.
The High Bridge spans the River Trent with five cast iron arched ribs of 140 feet. Each rib consists of seven bolted sections, with diagonal and transverse bracing between the ribs. This is a substantial bridge with a total width of 25’8” and with graceful curving stone abutments terminating in darker stone capped pilasters.
In 1982 the bridge was strengthened to prevent damage due to expected subsidence from centuries of coal mining and the B5014 traffic was diverted to a modern bridge alongside.
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- Category: Staffordshire
COUND ARBOUR BRIDGE 1797 HEW 423 SJ555 053 N52o 38’ 34.3” W2o 43’ 2.4”
This is the oldest cast iron bridge still in daily use. Anthony Blackwell (Bridges of Shropshire p.50) says that it was built by local subscription and possibly built by John Dodson. The mid-span plate says it was cast at Coalbrookdale in 1797. It crosses the Cound Brook in close proximity to two other cast iron bridges of its generation: Cantlop Bridge and Boreton Bridge.
Its single shallow arch of three cast iron ribs spans 36 feet. The spandrels are solid but the lower edges are decorated with pierced iron circles descending in size towards the center. In 1920 and in 1931 it was provided with a concrete roadbed and then with concrete abutments.
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- Category: Shropshire