Sunday, 8 October 2023

The bridges of Salford and Manchester ......... nu 2 Victoria Bridge, sometime in the 1850s

Now there is not much more to say.

 It is the work of C W Clennel sometime in the 1850s.
But there is more.
And for that I am indebted to Alan who quick as a flash, added that

"Haha, I beg to differ Andrew, there is much to say, for instance the first mention of the bridge over the river Irwell was in the Lancashire Inquisitions of 1226. 

In 1368 Thomas Bothe a wealthy Yeoman of Barton on Irwell bequeathed £30 in his will to the Bridge on which he had previously built a chapel.where prayers were to be said for the soul of the founder.In 1505, the Chapel was converted to a prison.

On September 25th 1642 was the Battle of Salford Bridge between the Parliamentary forces and the Royalists. 

On July 1776 the bridge was widened by taking down the Dungeon and extending its piers and arches. 

On July 2nd 1838 the first stone on the Salford side of Victoria Bridge was laid by Mr Elkanah Armitage, the Borough Reeve of Salford and on July the 2nd the first stone on the Salford side was laid by Mr J Brown, Borough Reeve of Manchester.

On October 16th, the central arches were washed away.

On January 7th 1839 the arches of Victoria bridge were once again destroyed in a Gale. There were to be many more great floods, but the bridge appears to have escaped further damage, here ends my little hisory of Victoria Bridge...... "

And I think pretty much does justice to the old bridge.  Thank you Alan

Location; Salford

Picture, Victoria Bridge, C W Clennell, m77145 courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

4 comments:

  1. I don't know which bridge the sketch is , but it isnt Victoria bridge

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  2. It is the Victoria Railway Bridges, one arch crosses Victoria Street and the next arch that is in the photo crosses the Irwell. You can see both in this photo. https://images.manchester.gov.uk/web/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=61451&reftable=ecatalogue&refirn=60656

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  3. Now you mention it, I see the train on the left, and the Cathedral on the right

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  4. The bridge shown in the ink sketch is the first iteration of what was to become Exchange Station Approach, and the outline and name of it can be seen in this map extract: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=20.0&lat=53.48683&lon=-2.24259&layers=117746211&right=BingSat It was initially called Victoria Station Approach, hence easily confused with Victoria Bridge / Salford Bridge.

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