Unsliven Bridge, Stocksbridge, Stocksbridge, Sheffield

Summary

Single-span road-bridge, built about 1730 and widened twice, the last occasion in 1796.

Description

Single-span road-bridge built about 1730 and widened twice, the last occasion in 1796.

MATERIALS: gritstone.

PLAN: rectangular, single-span with splayed abutments.

Single-span, segmental arched bridge, with the three phases of construction, clearly visible in the soffit of the arch. The original phase of construction (believed c1730) is represented by the east (down-stream) elevation, which is built using coursed quarry-faced gritstone blocks. The arch has voussoirs with tooled haunches, a projecting keystone and keyed springing blocks. The spandrels rise to a projecting string course with triple bullnose mouldings, which carry the parapet wall that has keyed coping stones and terminates at either end in projecting rectangular-plan stone piers, capped by cushion cap stones. The blocks forming the piers in the parapet wall have matching, but less defined tooled triple bullnose moulding. The south abutment is splayed, while the north abutment is straight and pierced by a blocked ancillary flood arch, with quarry-faced voussoirs. The soffit of the east arch has a projecting crown spine and keystones. The west (up-stream) elevation and the soffits of both the west and central arches are built of coursed finely tooled gritstone blocks, the arch is built of squared voussoirs and the crown lacks a keystone. A string course carries the parapet wall that is splayed at each end, it has butt-jointed coping stones and terminates to the south end in a slightly projecting rectangular pier with a shallow cushion capstone. A low rounded stone bollard is situated against the base of the parapet wall. The coping of the parapet wall is inscribed: JOHN / 1796. The north end of the parapet wall was altered in 1805 by the addition of a splayed wing wall, which rise off a secondary string course that projects beyond the line of the spandrel and onto a secondary quarry-faced stone abutment. Both of the west abutments are largely obscured by the Underbank Reservoir over-flow channel walls. Tarmacadam road surface.

History

The first mention of Unsliven Bridge is in a pre-1290 charter and through time, the name appears in a number of written accounts with different spellings. There was a fulling mill situated at Shrevynhaigh in 1539 that had an adjacent timber bridge, and in 1541, it was recorded that Nicholas and John Greaves obtained a piece of pasture land in Hunshelf at Unshryven Bridge from the 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, to hold for 30 years. The present stone bridge is believed to have been built in about 1730 over the Little Don or Porter River, on the route of an ancient road between Bradfield and Wakefield, to cater for increased volumes of road traffic, created by the industrial revolution. The bridge was built to a design that had a single-span segmental arch with a small ancillary arch in the north abutment. A similar design that was repeated during the C18, 3.5km to the north along the same route, is at Oxspring Bridge (NHLE: 1151023). In 1733 the overseers of the highways were directed by the West Riding Justices of the Peace to erect Guide Stoops at remote crossroads, three of these guide stoops (NHLE: 1193130, 1132803, and 1191457) were erected in about 1734 close to Unsliven Bridge, and the one at the junction of Machin Lane and Clay Pits Lane, directed travellers to it. The earliest know depiction of the bridge is shown on Thomas Jeffrey’s 1-inch to 1-mile scale 1771 map of Yorkshire, which shows Unsliven Bridge. The bridge is aligned north to south and is approached from south-west to north-east and it was widened on two occasions during C18 to allow for increased traffic and to allow the two carts to pass safely in the same in opposite directions, and by the time of the last widening in 1796, the width of the original bridge had been doubled.

Further work was carried out in 1805 to realign the northern approach to the bridge and an angled wing wall was added to the west parapet that was aligned with the newly constructed Langsett, Wadsley, and Sheffield Turnpike (Manchester Road). The new road approached the bridge from the east and after crossing, continued on up the valley in a north-west direction towards Langsett. The maintenance of the Turnpike was funded by tolls collected at a number of toll bars along its length, one of which was established adjacent to Unsliven Bridge. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1838 to repeal the Turnpike, and eventually, the toll bar was removed, allowing the free movement of traffic along the Manchester Road. The importance of the bridge to the road network was diminished at the turn of C20, when the route of the Manchester Road was diverted from the old turnpike route, some 0.45km to the east of Unsliven Bridge, to allow for the construction of the Underbank Reservoir dam. The construction of the dam also had a direct impact upon the bridge, as the up-stream river banks were walled and canalised as an over-flow channel for the reservoir. Ever since that time, the bridge has remained in use, but only by local traffic and as a bus route.

Reasons for Listing

Unsliven Bridge, built about 1730, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* It is a well-designed and executed bridge, constructed of local gritstone.

Historic interest:

* It was built in response to the massive increase in road traffic, due to the industrial revolution, which is demonstrated by the phased widening of the bridge during C18 and its adaption in 1805 for the turnpike.

Group value

* The bridge is situated on an ancient route and has functional group value with the listed Oxspring Bridge (NHLE: 1151023) and three listed guide stoops (NHLE: 1193130, 1132803 and 1191457).

External Links

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