Packhorse Bridge, Two Butt Lane

Packhorse Bridge, of about 1759, spanning Pendlebury Brook.

MATERIALS: mixture of rough-hewn, punched, and tooled New Red Sandstone blocks, with a modern tamped grit surface.

PLAN: 'J'-plan, single span with curved southern abutments; aligned roughly north-east to south-west.

DESCRIPTION: a single span, segmental-arched bridge crossing the Pendlebury Brook. The arch faces have roughly hewn keystones and voussoirs rising off skew back stones that rest directly upon coursed squared piers. The arch soffit has a squared stone surface, but it has suffered some fracturing, particularly to the apex. The eastern arch is flush apart from a slightly projecting keystone, while the western arch is set back beneath an archivolt. The eastern keystone is severely eroded and an adjacent voussoir to the right has been faintly inscribed with an underscored W; possibly representing the Hundred of (West) Derby, any other lettering is illegible. The western keystone has been badly eroded, and the inscription is illegible, apart from the letters H D. The adjacent voussoir to the right has been faintly inscribed: H D / 1759. The abutments are of graduated coursed tooled stone blocks, with modern repairs to the upper course with modern flat copings stones that define the edge of the path and support modern painted tubular steel hand railings.

The bridge deck is flat and has been surfaced in a modern tamped grit surface, and the parapet walls are low and rounded. The eastern parapet consists of two large stone blocks with sloped ends. The west parapet has three blocks, the southern end is sloped; however, the northern end is vertical. The surfaces of both parapets exhibit eroded traces of graffiti and lettering, and the inner face of the west parapet has an incised benchmark. The path at the southern end of the bridge is obstructed by a pair of modern galvanized hurdles staggered to form a baffled entry.