“Telford, who o’er the vale of Cambrian Dee,
Aloft in air, at giddy height upborne,
Carried his navigable road, and hung
High o’er Menai’s Straits and bending bridge:
Structures of more ambitious enterprise
Than minstrels, in the age of old romance,
To their own Merlin’s magic lore ascribed.
The Aqueduct of Pontcysyllte is so called from a bridge of three arches
over the river Dee, and situated a little higher up the river. This is
the most stupendous work of the kind in the kingdom. It was designed and
executed by and under the inspection of that British Archimedes, Mr.
Thomas Telford, to carry a stream of water for the supply of the
Ellesmere Canal; to the proprietors of which, in the year 1804, Sir W. W.
Wynn, Bart. in the most liberal manner made an important donation of the
waters of Bala pool, as far as wanted; and to obtain that essential
advantage the Aqueduct was projected. {34} The level of the canal is
taken at a place in the river a little below the church of Llantysilio,
and about two miles, on the west of Llangollen.
The bank of the canal forms a charming promenade of about six miles from
its junction with the Dee to the Aqueduct, abounding with interesting and
picturesque scenery. Here and there snug little white cottages, peeping
from among the surrounding trees, decorate and embellish the sides and
recesses of some of the eminences; while the tops are dotted with the
little mountain sheep, scarcely distinguishable from the white stones
that are scattered upon their summits. The banks of the canal are
ornamented with trees, and embellished with bridges, &c.
This Aqueduct, the most extraordinary structure of its kind in the world,
was begun on the twenty-fifth day of July, 1795, and was finished on the
twenty-sixth day of November, 1805; having been ten years and five months
in building. It is one thousand and seven feet in length, and one
hundred and twenty-six feet eight inches in height from the surface of
the flat rock on the south side of the river Dee, to the top of the iron
side plates of the water way; and there are nineteen arches of forty-five
feet span each. The piers, eighteen in number, are constructed of square
masonry, and the arches and water way are composed of cast-iron.
At the south end of the Aqueduct there is an embankment of earth, fifteen
hundred feet in length, and seventy-five feet high. The water way is
eleven feet ten inches broad, and five feet three inches deep. There is
a broad towing-path on the east side, guarded by a strong iron palisade,
running the whole length of the Aqueduct; from the north end of which the
canal is continued for a distance of about three hundred yards, and there
terminates in an extensive basin, which affords a double wharfage, with
iron railways.
I have heard of only one fatal accident occurring during the progress of
this arduous undertaking; when a poor labourer employed on the work fell
from the top of one of the piers, and was dashed to pieces on the rock
below. His suffering was of short duration, as the tremendous height
from which he fell caused instant dissolution.
The Aqueduct crosses the entrance of the vale of Llangollen from north to
south, and the walks under and about it are really charming. The view
along the beautiful vale of the Dee from the top, in the centre of the
towing-path, is delightful, and to look down tremendous; and the river,
“That on the unnumber’d pebbles idly chafes,
Cannot be heard so high.”
Indeed, it requires a steady head, and a stout heart, to walk over the
Aqueduct, especially when the wind is high.
On the twenty-sixth day of November, 1805, the canal was opened in the
following manner, as described by one of the acting Committee. He
says—{36}
“In going over the Aqueduct and returning, the sensations varied. As
the procession of boats advanced towards the noble structure now
first commencing its public utility, the complete sense of security
in which we floated one hundred and twenty-six feet above the river
Dee, and a just acknowledgment to Mr. Telford, to whom it was
deservedly a proud day, and who had most happily arranged the whole
of our accommodation, as well as constructed the wonderful edifice
that supported us, naturally united.
“On our arrival at the eastern bank, we entered the canal port. Lady
Bridgewater, the ladies of Colonel Kynaston Powell, and William Lloyd
Ashton, Esq. and some others, as connected with the Committee, now
attended Lady Eleanor Butler, Lady W. W. Wynn and her family, the
Hon. Miss Ponsonby, Miss Ormsby, and many other respectable visitors,
to a repast which had been provided; soon after which an Oration was
delivered.
“On a signal being given, the cannon, which had been advantageously
posted on the platform below the rocks, and nearly on a level with
the Aqueduct, fired a royal salute. The guns were manned by the
Artillery Company, and were some of those brought from the capture of
Seringapatam, now belonging to the Shropshire Volunteers, whose skill
and martial appearance added much to the brilliancy of the day: they
saluted the Committee on their passage and return with fifteen rounds
each. After the repast and Oration, the whole company prepared to
return.
“The procession of boats was as follows:—In the first and second
boats, the Committee; in the third, the band of the Shropshire
Volunteers, in full uniform; the fourth was occupied by the
engineers, the occupiers of mines and founderies, &c. with their
families. I was invited to take my passage with them, having been
engaged when the Committee set out, and could from this boat, as a
centre, better judge of the whole. The fifth and sixth boats closed
the procession, gaily ornamented with flags, and loaded with the
first commercial product of coal that had ever passed over the valley
on this noble bridge of union. The carriages, which conveyed the
rest of the company, formed a curved and continued line over the
bridge of the Dee (Pontcysyllte) and on both its banks.
“The evening was calm, and the favourite tunes of ‘_God save the
King_’ and ‘_Rule Britannia_’ floated in the air, amongst the echoes
of the vale. Many (probably more than eight thousand) people were
stationed all around us, from the tops of the mountains to the banks
of the Dee, and were cheering and exulting, with intervals of silent
astonishment. All within sight or hearing were expressing their
sense of the general happiness. The whole valley of Llangollen might
be said to laugh and sing.”
The following inscription is on the Aqueduct upon the side of the pier
next to the south side of the river:—
The Nobility and Gentry of
The adjacent Counties,
Having united their Efforts with
The great commercial Interests of this Country,
In creating an intercourse and union between
ENGLAND AND NORTH WALES,
By a navigable communication of the three Rivers,
Severn, Dee, and Mersey,
For the mutual benefit of Agriculture and Trade,
Caused the first Stone of this Aqueduct of
PONTCYSYLLTE
To be laid on the 25th day of July, 1795,
When Richard Myddelton, of Chirk, Esq. M.P.
One of the original patrons of the
ELLESMERE CANAL,
Was Lord of this Manor,
And in the reign of our Sovereign
GEORGE THE THIRD;
When the Equity of the Laws and
The security of Property
Promoted the general Welfare of the Nation;
While the Arts and Sciences flourished
By his Patronage, and
The Conduct of civil Life was improved
By his Example.
Returning from this stupendous work of human ingenuity and exertion,
towards the Castell Dinas Bran,