Features
Lancashire Bridge
When you stand on Lancashire Bridge today it is impossible to see the
bridge itself because of the buildings on either side, however, there
has been a bridge at this point since at least 1372. On August 13th of
that year a licence was granted to Thomas, the son of Henry of
Manchester, chaplain, that he might celebrate divine service in an
oratory, with his hermitage built at the end of the bridge of Stockport,
for two years. (It being the custom to pay a coin to the hermit for safe
crossing.)
In 1336 Robert de Brugge (Robert of the Bridge) was Mayor of Stockport
and therefore held the office of ‘Steward of the Bridge of Stockport’.
So it is possible that a bridge existed there at this date. Different
members of the family filled the same office in the years 1435, 1522 and
1588. Bridge Hall, in Adswood, was demolished in 1936.
During the Civil War Charles the First despatched Prince Rupert, with
10,000 men, to raise the siege of York. The bridge over the Mersey at
Warrington was too well guided and they turned east towards Stockport.
The Parliamentary forces of about 3000 men, under Colonels Mainwaring
and Dukinfield, drew up on the Cheadle side of the town to defend the
bridge. They deployed along the hedges past which Rupert’s army must
advance, lining them with musketeers. This was to no avail as the
Royalist dragoons, under Colonel Washington, drove them back into the
town. Many dead were reported but the Parish Register only records one
burial.
The bridge was regularly in need of repair and a letter signed Joseph
Rigby, and dated 16th October 1657, orders Thomas Birch and Richard Hyde
to survey the Lancashire side of ‘Stopport Bridge,’ together with
‘workmen of skill,’ to effect repairs. Despite this in a letter dated
5th October, 1666 (nine years later) the humble petition of George and
William Ouldham of Heaton Norris says: ‘For want of caretaking and
repairing that part of the bridge commonly called Lancashire Bridge
abutting upon Heaton Norris aforesaid, is grown (by reason of many
floods of the River Mersey which runneth under the said bridge) into
very great decay and almost become ruinous.’ Jo Warren wrote: ‘do
concede the bridge hath need of repair.’ Perhaps it would have been
better if the townships of Heaton Norris and Stockport had got together
and repaired the complete bridge.
In 1745, as Bonnie Prince Charlie’s rebel army advanced south through
Lancashire, on their way towards London, a 500 strong detachment of the
Liverpool Royal Blues were sent to destroy Lancashire Bridge. The Prince
was obliged to ford the river immersed to the waist in water. The rebel
army reached Derby before deciding to retreat. At Leek, four member of
the Manchester Regiment (recruited during the advance through
Lancashire) were sent forward to try to enlist more men at Manchester.
They were Captains Deacon and Bradshaw, Lietentant Holker and Ensign
Sydall. They first went to the makeshift Crossford Bridge but found it
pulled down again. They turned up river to Stockport where, possibly on
account of the delay, the townspeople had news of their coming. They
were fired upon and one of their horses was shot from under its rider
before they won through to the ford. When the Manchester Regiment
reached Stockport and discovered how four of its members had been
treated they were not happy. They took some prominent townsmen to
Manchester with ropes around their necks, in retaliation. The matter
went no further, they got off with a fright. The Manchester Regiment
surrendered while defending Carlisle and among those tried was Thomas
Sydall. He was executed and his head, together with that of Captain
Deacon, was taken to Manchester. It was set up, so it is said, in such a
position that it was visible from his widow’s bedroom.
The Buck and Dog adjoining Lancashire Bridge has a stone with the carved
inscription: ‘On August 31st, 1799, the river was as high as the top of
this stone- James Brown’. The stone can still be seen, but replaced in a
higher position after redevelopment. James Brown was the owner of the
inn about the year 1770 and during the French Wars it was much
frequented by the military, and, on account of it being the house of
call for the Press Gang, disturbances were frequent which caused the pub
to fall into disrepute. It was sold to Messrs Hole and Harrison, the
predecessors of Boddingtons. A Mr Ellis Shawcross took over and cleared
out the disreputable characters by force. He carried on a successful
business for thirty years.
The flood of 1799 was surpassed in November, 1866, when the river rose
20 feet, and the whole of the area was covered by water. The low-lying
land at Grimesbottom was under water. In some parts of the town
factories by the side of the river were flooded, the engines stopped and
the workpeople driven out.
During development work in 1987, a digger uncovered handfuls of live
bullets beneath the bridge. The Bomb Disposal Squad was called in. They
declared them to be from World War II, possibly thrown away by a
collector during an arms armistice. To help with the work a 350 ton
crane was used to place 50 ton steel beams which supported the concrete
slabs used to bring the bridge level up to that of the old Lancashire
Bridge.
By Eric Sturmey