High Bridge (Bridge No.39) Shropshire Union Canal Main Line

High Bridge, also known as Bridge No.39, is a canal bridge built between 1832 and 1833 for the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal Company. The project was overseen by Thomas Telford as the principal engineer, with William Provis as the consulting engineer and contractor, and Alexander Easton as the resident engineer. In the mid-19th century, a strainer arch was added to the bridge, which later supported a telegraph pole installed in 1861 by the United Kingdom Telegraph Company. In the late 20th century, the bridge was partially covered with cement render and the parapet was rebuilt.

The bridge is made of brick, which is now partly cement rendered, and features a rebuilt parapet constructed from blue engineering brick with stone coping. The wing walls are made of rock-faced rusticated sandstone.

This single-span canal bridge carries the A519 Newcastle-under-Lyme to Newport road over the Shropshire Union Canal Main Line. It has a semi-circular, horseshoe arch that rises approximately 12.2 meters and is built on a slight skew. The north and south faces of the bridge feature a stone band at road level, below which the spandrel walls are cement rendered. Each face has exaggerated keystone and voussoir mouldings. A brick strainer arch with a segmental-arched top and bottom spans the main arch at its midpoint and has a wooden telegraph pole attached to its upper section. On the tow path side of the bridge, there are two iron rope fenders. The shallow parapet on the road side has chamfered coping stones and ends in square piers with chamfered stone caps. Opposing revetment wing walls are present on both the north and south sides of the bridge. Additionally, a service pipe, which is not of special interest, runs across the south side of the bridge.