Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 07/10/2011

1017/0/10009
15-SEP-10

BIELBY
POCKLINGTON CANAL
POCKLINGTON CANAL COAT'S BRIDGE

GV
II

Canal bridge, 1818, designed by George Leather.

MATERIALS: Brick with stone voussoirs, string course and detailing; there has been some patching of the brickwork.

PLAN: The bridge has a single basket arch crossing the Pocklington Canal, with outswept parapets terminating in stone-capped square brick pillars. To either side of the arch, on both sides of the bridge, are segmental brick buttresses with rounded stone caps. The canal towpath runs beneath the bridge on the west side of the canal.

HISTORY: The Pocklington Canal was constructed at the beginning of the C19 to transport mainly agricultural goods from the East Riding to the larger urban centres to the south and west. A Bill was placed before Parliament in 1814 and the canal was designed by George Leather Jnr, an experienced navigation engineer who worked on Goole Docks and the Knottingley and Goole Canal. The canal was opened in 1818, running for 9.5 miles from the River Derwent at East Cottingwith to a mile south of Pocklington. The cost was £32,695, which was actually less than the original estimate.

Coal, lime, fertiliser and industrial goods were carried to Pocklington, and agricultural produce was sent to the West Riding. After 1847, when the canal was sold to the York and North Midland Railway, there was a decline in trade and the last cargo was carried on the canal in 1932. In 1963 ownership passed to British Waterways. It is now navigable as far as Melbourne, and some of the locks have been restored by the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society (formed in 1969), but it is a remainder waterway and there are no plans to restore the canal fully.
Coat's Bridge is one of four bridges crossing the canal designed by George Leather.

SOURCES: Pocklington Canal Amenity Society, The Pocklington Canal, 2008

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
Coat's Bridge on the Pocklington Canal is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a pre-1840 canal structure and is one of a group crossing the Pocklington Canal
* It was designed by George Leather, a well-known navigation engineer and designer
* It remains in its original condition
* It is of good architectural quality with a strong design.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26673110

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)