Three Colt Bridge, Gunmaker's Lane
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1001968
- Date first listed:
- 25-Aug-1976
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1001968
- Date first listed:
- 25-Aug-1976
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Tower Hamlets (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 36436 83723
Summary
Three Colt Bridge, 15m north-west of Gate House.
Reasons for Designation
Medieval and post-medieval single span bridges are structures usually designed to carry a road or track over a river by means of a single arch, typically 3m-6m in span. They were constructed for the use of pedestrians and packhorse or vehicular traffic. Stone or brick bridges constructed from the medieval period onwards were built with pointed, semicircular or segmental arches. The bridge abutments and revetting of the river banks also form part of the bridge. The theory and practice of masonry construction for bridges reached a high point in the 18th century. After this time increasing demand led to quicker builds with the adoption of iron bridges and later metal truss bridges.
Despite later alterations, Three Colt Bridge survives well with some impressive cast iron architectural features. The bridge is a significant element of the historic fabric of the Hertford Union Canal.
History
See Details.
Details
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 19 March 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.
The monument includes an early 19th century single span bridge over the Grand Union Canal. It is situated on low-lying ground on the south-east side of Victoria Park in Hackney.
The bridge has a slightly cambered cast iron girder deck with an open geometric iron parapet railing on the east side and iron mesh screen on the west side. The bridge abutments are of stock brick with stone quoins. At either end of the bridge are brick wing walls with a brick band and stone coping. The bridge surface is of concrete topped with asphalt. The brick work on the canal towpath exhibits historic wear patterns relating to 19th century rope marks caused by horses towing canal boats.
Three Colt Bridge was built in 1830 and is contemporary with the opening of the Hertford Union Canal. The Hertford Union Canal was instigated by Sir George Duckett and constructed by Francis Giles. It spanned 2km from the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation. It was later bought by the Regent’s Canal Company before it joined the Grand Union system in 1929. At the northern edge of the bridge is Victoria Park, a Grade II* registered park.
Three Colt Bridge is Grade II* listed.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- LO 138
- Legacy System:
- RSM - OCN
Sources
Other
NMR LINEAR730. PastScape 1340663. LBS 206526
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 10-Jun-2026 at 18:20:01.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.