25571

 

II  

Designated  

18/07/2001  

18/07/2001  

Aqueduct over Gwenffrywol  

 

Monmouthshire  

Goetre Fawr  

Pontypool  

Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal  

330846  

207353  

 

About 1000m south west of the village of Llanover and straddling the boundary between the two Communities.  

Transport  

 

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 Jnr. 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 betwen 1809 and 1812, with William Crossley as engineer. Linked to the tramroads the canal was an important artery for trade in iron, lime and coal. In 1865 the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal Company merged with the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company who owned the connecting canal from Pontymoile to Newport. Later still in 1880 the MR&CC was bought out by the Great Western Railway and gradually the canal was run down until it was abandoned finally in 1962. Restoration work was begun in 1964, and the canal is once again open between Pontymoile and Brecon with the title Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.  

Built of squared coursed local sandstone with dressed voussoirs and parapet band. A low single arch aqueduct of very solid appearance with a semi-circular arch framed by battered walls and a band across at the crown. Deep curved wing walls, and a parapet rests on another band. This handsome structure probably has the same treatment on either face, but the upstream side was not available for inspection at resurvey. This aqueduct crosses the boundary into Llanover Community.  

 

Included for its special interest as a very handsome and well built canal aqueduct, one of the major structures surviving in use for the early C19 Brecknock and Abergavenny canal.