Split Bridges
'Split Bridges' were installed at a number of narrow canal locks. They comprised two short cast iron cantilevers embedded in masonry abutments, with a small gap between them through which a barge's towrope could pass without being disconnected.
Examples can be seen on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, Stratford-upon-Avon Canal (north and south sections), ......
Some examples will be lodged here, pending possible development of this category:-
Various types illustrated here on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, Birmingham Canal Navigation, and Trent and Mersey Canal.
Historic England entry here for bridge at Lock 21, Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and here for Bridge 38. Also Bridges 39, 44.
A source[1] credits Josiah Clowes with the design of the split bridges on this canal. Clowes died in 1796, and this would raise the interesting possibility that some of these iron bridges were made in the 18th century. However, this is not supported by Rees's Cyclopaedia, published in the early 19th century: in the context of canal bridges, it refers only to a wooden split bridge in Rotterdam.
The South Stratford Canal was constructed between 1793-1816. The Historic England listing gives a date of c1812-1816 for the split bridge 53 at Wootton Wawen.
Stratford-upon-Avon Canal: Bridge 49, south of Preston Bagot: see Geograph entry; Bridge 31, Lapworth Lock, Bridge 55, Wootton Wawen; Bridges 33, 44, 45, 48, 53. Source of information here (Stratford upon Avon Canal Society) which notes that on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal most of the split bridges are south of Lapworth on the final part of the canal which was built when costs had to be cut to the bone.
Stourbridge Canal at Buckpool.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ [LAPWORTH_SOUTH.pdf - Untitled Warwick District Council document