The Bridgewater Monument is a Grade II* listed building in the Dacorum local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 May 1952. Monument. 2 related planning applications.
The Bridgewater Monument
- WRENN ID
- deep-panel-elm
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Dacorum
- Constituency
- Harpenden and Berkhamsted MP: Victoria Collins (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 14 May 1952
- Type
- Monument
- Address
- The Bridgewater Monument, Ringshall Road, Aldbury, HP4 1ND
- OS grid reference
- SP 970 131
- Coordinates
- 51.8083, -0.59428
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Bridgewater Monument is a neo-Classical monument constructed between 1831 and 1832 by Sir Jeffry Wyatville for Lord Farnborough, acting as executor to the will of the 8th Earl of Bridgewater. It was built by Philip Nowell of Pimlico, starting in 1831. The monument commemorates Francis, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, and was erected in honour of his contributions to inland navigation. It is built of grey micaceous granite, with steps and the interior of the base in yellow freestone. The finial is a large copper urn, with wrought iron for the balustrade around the top, a handrail, and a grill at the entrance.
The monument is in the form of a fluted Greek Doric column, approximately 40 metres high, topped with an urn. The abacus serves as a viewing platform. It sits upon a stepped, cubical base with a battered plinth, featuring two offsets and tall, vertical projections in the middle of each side. A rectangular entrance, accessed by two steps in the East projection, has a plain surround with converging uprights and faces a designed vista eastward towards Ashridge House in Little Gaddesden. The pedestal bears an inscription, dating from around 1833, using sunk sans serif lettering, which reads "IN HONOUR OF/FRANCIS, THIRD DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER/"FATHER OF INLAND NAVIGATION"/1832”.
A contemporary brass plate in the entrance passage provides a detailed inscription commemorating John William, Earl of Bridgewater, Francis Henry, Earl of Bridgewater, and Charlotte C. Anne, Countess of Bridgewater, and recognizing Francis, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater's contribution to national industry and commercial interests.
The monument is situated on a spur at the highest point in the parish, 731 feet above ordnance datum. It was intended to commemorate the completion of the Grand Junction Canal, and stands as a formal monument of the canal era, built at its height and prior to the development of railways.
Local climate
The Bridgewater Monument sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 730 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 77% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 79% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 38 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 72% of listed buildings. Of these, 18 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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