Saughall Massie Bridge

HOYLAKE

1916/0/10039 SAUGHALL MASSIE ROAD 28-APR-06 SAUGHALL MASSIE BRIDGE

II Stone road bridge over Arrowe Brook, 1829/30, constructed by Thomas Brassey and William Lawton, Kyper sandstone with Bunter sandstone parapet wall.

Single-span segmental arched road bridge, single carriageway with pedestrian footpaths to each N and S side. Low parapet walls of large sandstone blocks with curved copings extending slightly beyond wall face, terminating in squat pillars with carved flat-domed tops. Pillars are square apart from the curved face continuing the inside line of the parapet wall. Main body: Spandrel walls of smaller sandstone blocks. Segmental arch formed by voussoirs with projecting keystone and narrow arch ring.

HISTORY: In 1829 the County of Chester invited tenders to build a bridge over the Arrowe Brook to connect the village of Saughall Massie to the rest of the Wirral, in the hope of reducing crime that had resulted from the village's isolated location. The contract was awarded to Thomas Brassey and his partner William Lawton who constructed the bridge for £200. Thomas Brassey is widely regarded as perhaps the greatest civil engineering contractor of the C19, constructing railways and associated bridges and viaducts in Britain, Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Australia, along with the Victoria Docks, London. He was also involved in developing mines, locomotive factories, and water and sewage systems around the world. Saughall Massie Bridge, constructed at the beginning of Brassey's career, was his first bridge contract.

SOURCES: Biddle G & Nock O.S. 'The Railway Heritage of Britain: 150 years of railway architecture and engineering'. 1983. London: Michael Joseph Ltd. Stacey T. 'Thomas Brassey'. 2005. London: Stacey International. ICivilEngineer: The Internet for Civil Engineers. Available HTTP: http://www.icivilengineer.com/Famous_Engineers/Brassey/ Institution of Civil Engineers. Available HTTP: http://www.ice.org.uk Penkridge Community Information Resource. Available HTTP: http://www.penkridge.org.uk/brassey.htm

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: Saughall Massie Bridge represents significant national interest as the first bridge constructed by the pre-eminent civil engineering contractor of the C19, Thomas Brassey, at the starting point of his career. This contract provided Brassey with the opportunity to construct a simple but elegant road bridge, enabling him to hone the talents that he later adapted and transferred to his work on the railways and his more grandiose and substantial structures, such as the Barentin Viaduct, France, and the Victoria Bridge, Montreal.