Summary
Accommodation bridge on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, around 1786-1789.
Description
Accommodation bridge on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, around 1786-1789.
MATERIALS: lime-washed red brick with blue brick copings.
PLAN: the bridge connects the land on the east and west sides of the canal at Tamhorn Park Farm. The tow path runs along the east side of the canal, passing beneath the bridge.
EXTERIOR: a single segmental arch with a plain brick-coped parapet.
History
The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a 14 mile waterway which links the Birmingham Canal at Farmers Bridge Junction to the Coventry Canal at Fazeley, just south of Tamworth.
The construction of a new canal to provide the Walsall coal fields with access to the network was first mooted in 1770. After various routes and proposals were rejected, plans for a line from central Birmingham to Fazeley were authorised by an Act of Paliament in 1784. John Smeaton was the engineer, and John Pinkerton the building contractor. Construction took place between 1786 and 1789.
The Tamhorn House bridge provides access between the farmstead and farmland at Tamhorn Park Farm. The farmhouse, listed at Grade II (1180228) was owned by Sir Robert Peel, who used it as a hunting lodge.
Reasons for Listing
The Tamhorn House Canal Bridge is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* dating to the 1780s, a period of pioneering canal building, and for which there is a presumption in favour of listing structures which retain a significant proportion of their historic fabric;
* a robust and well-constructed brick bridge which is largely unaltered and exemplifies the architectural character of the canal as it passes through rural farmland.
Historic interest:
* as an accommodation bridge that was part of the infrastructure of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, constructed in the 1780s.
Group value:
* with the Grade II-listed Tamhorn Park Farmhouse.
External Links
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
Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)