Cound Arbour Bridge

You can start your visit at either end of the bridge. In this guide, we started from the south bank of the Cound Brook near the war memorial. As you approach the bridge, you may notice a cast iron plaque with details about the bridge erected by Cound Parish Council in commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

The bridge supports a narrow single-lane road so take care when crossing as this route can receive regular traffic. Notice the fine cast iron Gothic balustrade with curved stanchions and moulded handrail.

Above the bridge to the north is a gate to a public footpath that leads down to the northern bank of the Cound Brook. Here you can get a close view of the sandstone ashlar abutments.

Take in the view of the southwest face of the bridge. Take note of the diminishing ring pattern that is commonly found on bridge designs originating from Coalbrookdale. This design can be traced back to the original Iron Bridge that contains circles in its ribs. It is difficult to see in this photo, but you can just about spot the central keystone plaque with an inscription that reads ‘CAST AT COALBROOK DALE 1797’.

We returned to the road where another path led us to the northeastern face of the bridge for a closer view of the underlying cast iron plates that follow the arch of the three ribs. The space above these plates would have been filled with materials commonly used in conventional masonry arched bridges such as rubble, crushed limestone, and clay. This highlights a lack of understanding of this new material from the engineer who is using traditional bridge-building techniques at a time when cast iron bridges were still in their infancy.

This filling would have been removed in the 20^th century and replaced with concrete forming a new arch. This reinforcement is visible as a parapet running along the top of the cast iron ribs and is the reason why the bridge is still able to support vehicles to this day.