17641

 

II  

Designated  

15/03/1996  

15/03/1996  

Richards Farm Bridge ( Canal Bridge no 93 )  

 

Monmouthshire  

Llanfoist Fawr  

 

Llanellen  

329443  

211533  

 

The bridge spans the canal 0.25km south of bridge No 94 and reached by a lane from B 4269. Tow-path to the east side.  

Transport  

 

 

History: The Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal was promoted in 1792 to connect the upper Usk valley to the Monmouthshire Canal at Pontymoile and from there to the sea at Newport. Construction began in 1797, with Thomas Dadford as engineer, and the first section, from Gilwern to Llangynidr was completed in that year with the stretch as far as Brecon following in 1800. Work then stopped for a time with the result that the section to the Blaenavon Road east of Govilon was not completed until 1805, now with Thomas Cartwright as engineer. Further funds had to be raised and the last section from west of Llanfoist to Pontymoile was completed between 1809 and 1812, with William Crosley as engineer. Linked to tramroads, the canal was an important artery for trade in iron, lime and coal. In 1865 the Monmouthshire and the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal Companies merged becoming the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal Company. Later still the canal was bought out by the Great Western Railway and gradually the canal was run down until it was finally abandoned in 1962. Restoration work was begun in 1964. Description: This bridge (No 93) lies within the section constructed by William Crosley between 1809 and 1812. Depressed arch roughly coursed rubble canal bridge of standard design with voussoirs and swept out parapets with end pilasters. Cobbled deck; the lane beyond the bridge is now disused. At the north-east corner is the only surviving example on this stretch of the canal of a 1920 GWR notice displaying weight restrictions; it is lozenge-shaped and mounted on an iron post. A GWR boundary post also survives downhill from the bridge. Listed for its special interest as a surviving early C19 Brecknock and Abergavenny canal bridge with attached contemporary canal-side building. References: Nicholson's guides to the Waterways, vol 3, South-west, p49-55, (n.d.). R A Stevens, Brecknock & Abergavenny and Monmouthshire Canals (Towpath Guide No 2), (Cambridge, 1974), p55.