Description

SJ 51 SW
SJ 5313 1207 UPTON MAGNA C.P. SHROPSHIRE UNION CANAL,
Shrewsbury Branch

3/91 North-west entrance to
- Berwick Tunnel

- II

Canal tunnel entrance. Dated 1797, possibly by Josiah Clowes or Thomas
Telford. Dressed red sandstone with ashlar dressings. Parabolic arch with
chamfered voussoirs and triple keystones; curved retaining walls, string
course, central square datestone, coped parapet raised to centre, and coped
square end piers. Arch bricked up in late C20. Berwick Tunnel (970 yards)
was the first canal tunnel to have a towpath incorporated from the start
(removed 1819); added at the suggestion of William Reynolds, it was wooden,
about 3 feet wide and rested on bearers set in the wall allowing the full
width of the tunnel to be filled with water and reducing the resistance of
boats. The Shrewsbury branch of the Shropshire Union Canal was begun in
1793 with Josiah Clowes as the engineer under William Reynolds, the latter
replaced after his death in February 1795 by Thomas Telford, and opened in
February 1797. Charles Hadfield, The Canals of the West Midlands, David
and Charles (1969), Pp. 160 and 163.

Listing NGR: SJ5318412065

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26516937

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)