Shropshire Union Canal Bridge No 50 (Soudley Bridge)

Soudley Bridge, also known as Bridge No 50, is a canal bridge built around 1830 by engineers Thomas Telford and Alexander Easton. It is constructed from dressed red sandstone with tooled ashlar dressings. The bridge features an elliptical arch made of voussoirs and a flush keystone, giving it a distinctly humped-back shape. It has a flat string course and a parapet with square end piers and rounded coping. The abutments are slightly battered and curved. On the towpath side, there are cast-iron corner posts that show grooves from rope-haulage. This section of the canal was part of the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, which was authorized by an act passed in 1826 and opened in 1835. It was later absorbed by the Ellesmere and Chester Canal in 1845 and became part of the Shropshire Union Canal in 1846.