Fishery Bridge

Summary

Road bridge crossing the River Yarrow, early- to mid-C18.

Reasons for Designation

Fishery bridge, of early- to mid-C18 origin, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a well-constructed single phase early- to mid-C18 bridge which falls well within the period when most bridges warrant serious consideration for listing.

Historic interest:

* situated on a historic packhourse route and reflecting the evolution of early infrastructure to provide essential communication and transport.

Group value:

* it benefits from a spatial and historic group value with other Grade-II listed bridges at Eccleston and Charnock Richard and spatial group value with Jubilee Almshouses (also Grade II).

History

Fishery Bridge crosses the River Yarrow around 32 m north-west of Jubilee Almshouses (National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry 1072553), and it forms part of the historic route between Rufford, Croston and Bretherton. The construction of the bridge likely dates to the development, between 1720-1742, of the River Douglas which created a straighter artificial course to Croston, north of Meadow Lane, and involved several programmes of canalisation to improve transportation networks across the Lancashire Plain. The bridge is shown on Yates map of 1786 and identified as Fishery Bridge in the 1803 Bridge List, the OS 1845 and 1847 map and the 1848 Bridge List. It is shown with a single coursed parapet with saddleback coping in a C19 photograph. Repairs were undertaken to the bridge in 1930 with the insertion of a concrete saddle; water, gas and sewage rising mains; re-laying of original and new setts provided by the county council, and raising of the parapet wall by one narrow masonry course below re-set saddleback coping. This phase of repairs is thought to date the inscription ‘C C Fishery Bridge’ running along the inner face of the east parapet coping (following the creation of Lancashire County Council in 1889). In 1994 repairs and improvements were made with the insertion of metal cramps to the parapet coping.

Details

Road bridge, early to mid C18.

MATERIALS: sandstone.

PLAN: a single-span bridge, aligned north-south over the River Yarrow.

DESCRIPTION: the single-span squared sandstone road bridge is laid out on a north-south axis over the River Yarrow. The bridge has a single segmental arch with voussoirs and a dressed string band set below and along the parapet and wing walls. The roadway is a concrete saddle and tarmac road with a two coursed humped parapet (raised by one course in the C20) with wing walls terminated by capped pilasters and steel cramped saddleback coping. The inner east face of the parapet coping stones has the inscription ‘C C Fishery Bridge’ centrally inscribed and painted hazard chevrons at the south end of the bridge.

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