Rochdale Canal Canal Overflow Ford Approximately 30 Metres To North West Of Canal Bridge

The canal overflow ford, located approximately 30 metres northwest of the canal bridge, dates from around 1800 and was built for the Rochdale Canal Company. It features stone setts, wood, and brick. Timber balks edge the canal, allowing water to overflow over the 2-metre wide ford, which is laid with stone setts, and down the hillside into the River Calder below. Square brick piers from a later, now-gone bridge span the ford, with the round-topped ashlar parapet still surviving. The Rochdale Canal was opened in sections between 1798 and 1804, originally surveyed by James Brindley in 1776, resurveyed by John Rennie in 1791, and constructed under the supervision of engineer William Jessop and resident engineer William Crossley. The ford has group value with the Upper Foot Canal Bridge in Sowerby Bridge.