Summary
An accommodation bridge over the Thames and Severn Canal, built in about 1785.
Description
An accommodation bridge over the Thames and Severn Canal, built in about 1785.
MATERIALS
Limestone.
DESCRIPTION
A standard Thames and Severn canal company accommodation bridge. The bridge has a single, segmental-arched opening springing from wedge-shaped stone springers, without a dripmould. The wing walls are built with an inward batter, and curve outwards from the arch to end in pilaster terminals. Because of the narrow-waisted and battered shape of the bridge, the voussoirs of the arch step in slightly. The parapet is contiguous with that of the wing walls and spandrels rather than being of a separate construction. The parapet is level over the arch and then slopes gently down in a straight line on either side to the ends of the wing walls; it is topped by a plain stone coping. There is a small amount of brick patching to the interior of the arch.
History
The Stroudwater Navigation, built in 1775-9, was designed to link the River Severn at Framilode to Stroud, allowing coal to be brought from Shropshire, Staffordshire and the Forest of Dean to the textile mills of the Stroud valleys. The Thames and Severn Canal, constructed in 1783-9, was designed to run eastwards from Stroud, eventually linking the River Severn to the River Thames at Inglesham, near Lechlade-on-Thames. The Cotswold Canals, as they are also known, were generally successful, though the Thames and Severn in particular suffered serious technical failings which compromised its profitability. Despite this, both canals continued in use well into the C20.
Trewsbury or Coatesfield Bridge was built on the Thames and Severn Canal in about 1785: it lies on a stretch of canal, east of the Sapperton Tunnel, which was completed between 1785 and 1788. This bridge was constructed from limestone, rather than the more usual brick, to a standard Thames and Severn Canal Company design.
Reasons for Listing
Trewsbury (or Coatesfield Bridge), an accommodation bridge of about 1785 over the Thames and Severn Canal, is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a Thames and Severn canal bridge, well-built in stone rather than the more usual brick, which survives in good condition with only very little brick patching;
Historic interest:
* as a structure on this important late-C18 canal forming a significant link, with the Stroudwater Navigation, from the River Thames in Oxfordshire to the River Severn in Gloucestershire;
Group value:
* with the many other listed canal structures along this stretch of the canal between Sapperton Tunnel and the Thames Head.
External Links
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
Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair