Stanley Ferry Aqueduct

The Stanley Ferry Aqueduct is a Grade I listed structure that carries the Calder Cut of the Aire and Calder Navigation over the River Calder. It was built between 1837 and 1839 and designed in 1834 by George Leather junior of George Leather and Son, based in Leeds. The aqueduct features a cast iron construction with stone abutments and is designed in an arched suspension style. It includes two iron girder sections with a span of 155 feet, a horizontal tie at the apex, and steel suspension rods supporting the trough.

The trough itself is 160 feet long and 24 feet wide, adorned on each outer side with a continuous colonnade of fluted Doric colonnettes and an entablature that features triglyphs with guttae and mutules. The lower ends of the arched supporting girders pass through at each end without disrupting the colonnade. Each stone abutment is concealed by a pedimented portico that matches the overall style of the aqueduct. Although the trough has been modified by the removal of the towpaths to widen the passage, the iron stick railings have been replaced in replica. This aqueduct is believed to be the first iron suspension aqueduct in the world.