Bridge over Glamorganshire Canal W of Newbridge Chainworks basin

Cadw's description

Location

On the S side of Ynysangharad Road and to the rear of the Bunch of Grapes public house.

History

The Glamorganshire Canal Act was passed in 1790 and the canal opened in 1794 from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff, primarily to serve the growing output of the ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil. Its engineers were Thomas Dadford and Thomas Sheasby. The steep gradient between Merthyr and Cardiff - a fall of 165.5m in 40.2km - was overcome by erecting 51 locks, instead of the inclined planes favoured on other canals. These included a triple lock at Nantgarw (which has not survived) and the double lock at Pontypridd. The rapid growth in output of iron soon led to congestion on the canal, however, but the large volume of trade from the ironworks ensured that the canal survived the opening of the Taff Vale Railway in 1841. Traffic declined sharply when the ironworks declined in the late C19 and coal companies preferred rail transport. The upper section N of Pontypridd was almost disused by the late C19, but the section between Nantgarw and Pontypridd did not close until a breach at Nantgarw in 1942.

Exterior

A rubble sandstone bridge with a single segmental arch. A plain parapet has hammer-dressed flat copings, and is splayed out at the ends to simple square piers. The parapet is removed on the N side facing the double lock. The deck is laid with concrete steps and descends steeply from E-W. A late C20 garden wall is built across the E side of the deck abutting the parapet wall.

Reason for designation

Listed for industrial archaeological interest as one of the few surviving bridges on the original Glamorganshire Canal.

Group value with Locks 31 & 32 and the Newbridge Chainworks canal basin.