Gas Works Bridge, Over River Calder

SOWERBY BRIDGE MEARCLOUGH ROAD SE 0623-0723 (north side, off) 13/130 - Gas Works Bridge, over River Calder - II Bridge. 1816, widened mid C19. By Aydon and Elwell, Shelf Ironworks, Bradford. For Messrs Thos Fearnside & Son of Mearclough Bottom Mill. Cast iron and steel, stone abutments. Single wide segmental cast-iron arch rising from stone abutment walls and supported at each end by 4 curved braces. Widened in steel mid C19, the face of the bridge is of steel panels bolted together and rising in centre; above are railings formed of standards supporting 3 round-sectioned rails. A cast-iron date plaque removed from the bridge and now displayed in Bankfield Industrial Museum, Halifax, records the date of construction, the founders and for whom it was built. This is reported to be the earliest remaining cast-iron bridge in Calderdale and similar castings were used by the same firm for the high-level bridge at Scarborough.

Listing NGR: SE0670823672