Bridge at Moat Farm

Cadw's description

Location

Moat Farm is 300m NW of Llandyry church, and reached by farm road on the NW side of the B4317. The bridge is on the N side of the farm.

History

A bridge spanning the Afon Morlais and a branch of the Kidwelly & Llanelli Canal. The canal, begun in 1812, was built between Llanelli and Kymer's Canal (1769) on the E side of Kidwelly. The short branch to Moat Farm was completed by 1824, and beyond it a tramroad continued to Trimsaran Colliery. Later the canal was taken over by the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway and in 1869 it built a railway mainly on the bed of the old canal. The branch to Moat Farm was also laid with rails in 1873. The BP&GVR was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1922. The branch line to Moat Farm was closed and its rails taken up in 1962. The bridge carries a farm road and is shown on the 1839 Tithe map.

Exterior

A 2-span single-carriageway bridge of rubble stone with segmental freestone arches. Between the main spans is a smaller rubble-stone arch, visible only on the upstream side, connected to a watercourse. The flat deck has a parapet with cock-and-hen coping, which is splayed out at the NW end and at the S end curves slightly towards the farmyard.

Reason for designation

Listed as a well-preserved early C19 bridge associated with a former canal and the local mining industry.