Clarborough Top Bridge Over The Chesterfield Canal- Clarborough, UK
Posted by: dtrebilc
N 53° 20.750 W 000° 54.600
30U E 639128 N 5912778
This brick single arch bridge carries Sneath Lane over the Chesterfield canal and is bridge number 62.
Waymark Code: WM111B4
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/28/2019
Views: 1
"The canal was built to link Chesterfield, Worksop and Retford to the Trent and so gain access to more trade. Local Anston Stone was transported by the canal to the river Trent for the building of the new Houses of Parliament. During the 19th century the canal was a commercial success due to local coal. However, mining caused subsidence in the Norwood Tunnel, severing the top end of the canal.
The Chesterfield Canal runs from the river Trent at West Stockwith to Chesterfield. The Canal is 45.5 miles (73.3 km) long and has 65 locks, but only the section from West Stockwith the eastern end of Norwood Tunnel is currently navigable. This navigable section is 31.6 miles (50.9 km) long and has 46 locks.
At the isolated western end of the canal, five miles and five locks have been restored. The new Staveley Town Basin opened in 2012. There are slipways at Tapton Lock in Chesterfield and Staveley Town Basin. There is also a craning pad at the basin. This leaves nine miles to be restored. There are detailed plans for the entire stretch, prepared by the Chesterfield Canal Partnership."
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The bridge
The bridge is a Historic England Grade II Listed Building.
"Canal bridge, aligned east-west to carry Sneath Lane, Clarborough over the Chesterfield canal. The canal opened fully in 1777 and was engineered by the notable canal engineer James Brindley.
MATERIALS: constructed of red brick with stone dressings and copings.
EXTERIOR: the bridge is of single elliptical arch form, spanning the canal and the canal towpath. There are sloping approaches at both ends of the bridge, with substantial raking abutments. The bridge arch springs from a deep ashlar band set on a low brick plinth. On either side of the bridge arch are shallow pilasters which extend upwards into the bridge parapets, terminating as rectangular piers with shallow-pitched ashlar caps. The central section of the bridge has brick parapet walls with a deep ashlar coping. At the head of the bridge arch is a band course which extends into the downward sloping abutment wall parapets, ending at low terminal piers with ashlar caps."
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