Clifton Aqueduct, built in 1796, carried the

Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal is a disused canal in Greater Manchester, England, built to link Bolton and Bury with Manchester. The canal, when fully opened, was long. It was accessed via a junction with the River Irwell in Salford. ...

across the

River Irwell The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary be ...

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

, near

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England. It is preserved as a Grade II

listed structure In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The aqueduct is constructed of dressed stone with brick arches. Three segmental arches with keystones rest on triangular-ended cutwaters. Above the cutwaters are flat

Pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s. A C20 brick

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

remains on the eastern side. There is a towpath on each side, and the aqueduct contains grooves for stop planks to be inserted, to drain the canal. The aqueduct was engineered by Charles Roberts and John Nightingale. The aqueduct is one of two remaining along the canal route, the other being Prestolee Aqueduct. The canal is undergoing restoration and was previously hoped to be in operation around 2020. As of December 2020, the aqueduct is currently not in water. The canal is very overgrown and showing signs of severe deterioration.

Rail access

The nearest station is

Clifton (Manchester) railway station Clifton railway station is a railway station in Clifton, Greater Manchester, England which was formerly called Clifton Junction. It lies on the Manchester–Preston line. History The railway line between Salford and , the Manchester and Bolton ...

References

External links

Clifton Aqueduct on Pennine Waterways websiteManchester, Bury & Bolton Canal Society website
* Grade II listed bridges in Greater Manchester Bridges completed in 1796 Navigable aqueducts in England Grade II listed canals Buildings and structures in the City of Salford Bridges across the River Irwell 1796 establishments in England {{UK-bridge-struct-stub

Rail access

See also

References

External links