Holden Viaduct, in

Sneyd Green Sneyd Green is an area in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, in the north-east of the city, from Hanley. Sneyd Green borders Smallthorne in the north, Milton in the east, Birches Head in the south, and Cobridge in the west. ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, carries the A5272, here called

Hanley Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been the ...

Road. It spans a cutting through which runs

Leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

New Road, the A53. On each side of the viaduct is a ramp leading down to the A53. Although it is officially a

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

, it is quite short and has only one span. It is usually known as "Holden Bridge". It is a notable feature for motorists travelling along Leek New Road, which is perfectly straight here. A plaque on the balustrade reads: ''City of Stoke-on-Trent, Holden Viaduct. This bridge was opened by Mrs J W Oakes on the 14th July 1930, and was erected to replace the original structure built in 1844. Major J Kent DSO Chairman, Councillor J W Oakes Vice-Chairman, Highways Committee.'' A short way north-east along Leek New Road, at the junction with Berwick Road, there was until recently a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

called The Holden Bridge; it closed in 2007, and has since been demolished.

History

The Leek New Road, which runs in an almost straight line between

Endon Endon is a village within the Staffordshire Moorlands district of Staffordshire, England. It is southwest of Leek and north-northeast of Stoke-on-Trent. Endon was formerly a township in civil parish of Leek. Together with neighbouring Stan ...

and

Cobridge Cobridge is an area of Stoke-on-Trent, in the City of Stoke-on-Trent district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. Cobridge was marked on the 1775 Yates map as 'Cow Bridge' and was recorded in Ward records (1843) as Cobridge Gate. Cobrid ...

, first appeared on the one-inch Ordnance Survey maps in the 1850s, so the road and bridge may have been parts of the same building project. As the plaque on the bridge tells us, the present bridge was opened in 1930, replacing the previous structure built in 1844. There were a number of improvements made to what is now the A53 between Stoke and Leek in the 1920s, the current Holden Viaduct being one. Holden was the name of a farm in this part of Sneyd Green, which had been in existence since at least 1611. In the late nineteenth century the bridge was known as Holden Hill Viaduct.

Notes

{{coord, 53, 2.6180, N , 2, 10.3429, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in Stoke-on-Trent Viaducts in England Bridges in Staffordshire