Scheduled Monument and Grade II* Listed Building: A fine wooden lifting bridge over the Prees Branch of the Ellesmere - Llangollen Canal, built c1800-1806 by William Jessop and Thomas Telford.
Wooden skew lifting bridge over the Prees Branch of the Ellesmere- Langollen Canal (SA 3414). The bridge crosses the canal only a few inches above water level. The stone filled balance box ensures easy operation <2>
Repair report in connection with broken hinge, from 1985. <3>
Photographed in 1979, prior to fitting of hyrdaulic lifting gear. Copy in DRF; scanned and digital copy attached to this record. <6>
Canal lift bridge. Probably circa 1800-6 (with later repairs), by William Jessop and Thomas Telford who designed the Llangollen (Ellesmere) Canal, on the Prees branch of which this bridge is situated. Wooden bascule bridge operated by counterweight and chain system. The Prees branch was originally intended to reach Prees Higher Heath but by 1806 it had only reached Quina Brook, near Edstaston, where it was decided to terminate it. The Ellesmere Canal Company amalgamated with the Chester Canal Company in 1813 and became part of the Shropshire Union in 1846. <7>
Survey carried out at Stark’s Bridge [ESA 4923] in 2003 to record the canal walls and any other features that may have been revealed when a section of the canal around the bridge was drained to enable repairs to the walls. Stark’s Bridge is a timber canal lifting bridge of late 18th century date and carries Maltkiln lane across the Prees Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal (originally the Ellesmere Canal) near Whixall. Three of the four wing walls to the bridge were found to have collapsed on to the canal bed. A series of colour and black and white photographs were taken of the bridge after the canal had been drained and prior to repair work commencing. <9>
Photographed 24/07/2014. <12>
A programme of photographic recording (to level 3 standard) and a watching brief were carried out during repair works to the bridge, following a strike by a boat in 2016. This was accompanied by the preparation of measured drawings by Mouchel, prior to and during the repairs. ->
-> During these works it was noted that the timber structure of the bridge has been substantially replaced over time, as a result of rot and boat strikes. Equally, much of the ironwork appears on inspection to be modern. The timber base has been replaced with concrete. It would now appear that there is little if any of the original fabric remaining. <13>
| [00] | SSA20722 - Card index: Shropshire County Council SMR. Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards. SMR record cards. SMR Card for PRN SA 01009. |
| [01] | SSA3659 - Field Monument Warden Report: Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission (HBMC). Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 14577. |
| [02] | SSA1473 - Monograph: Bracegirdle B & Miles. 1975. Great Engineers and their Works. p29 with photo. |
| [03] | SSA3655 - TEXT: Anon. 1985. Repair Report. |
| [04] | SSA3656 - Drawing: Shropshire County Council. 1984. Drawing of Proposed Parapets, Dwg 2/4/221. |
| [05] | SSA3657 - Scheduled Monument notification: Department of the Environment (DoE). 1973. Map of Scheduled area, 1973. |
| [06] | SSA3658 - Photograph: Anon. 1979. Stark's Bridge, Whixhall Branch. Colour. |
| [07] | SSA2160 - List of Buildings: Department of the Environment (DoE). 1987-Sep-16. 48th List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. Vol 1581-0. List volume. p118. 4th Amendment (Addition) 30/12/93. |
| [07a] | SSA3346 - Monograph: Hadfield C. 1969/1985. Canals of the West Midlands. p331. |
| [08] | SSA3654 - Correspondence: Various. 1985. Correspondence, 1985. |
| [09] | SSA20936 - Field survey report: Hannaford Hugh R. 2003. Stark's Bridge, Whixall, Shropshire. SCCAS Rep. 225. |
| [10] | SSA5174 - Monograph: Blackwall A. 1985. Historic Bridges of Shropshire. p58. |
| [11] | SSA23601 - Scheduled Monument Consent notification: English Heritage West Midlands Region. 2010-Sep-03. Scheduled Monument Consent for bridge repairs. Salop 321. |
| [12] | SSA27226 - HER comment: Haynes J B. 2014 onwards. Comments by J B Haynes, HER Compiler. |
| [13] | SSA29608 - Field survey report: Hannaford Hugh R. 2017. Archaeological recording at Stark's Bridge, Whixall, Shropshire 2017. SCAS Rep. 391. |