James Brindley: Plan Dedicated to the Duke of Bridgewater

Description:This plan produced by the civil engineer James Brindley (1716-1772) in 1769 was dedicated to Francis Egerton the third Duke of Bridgewater (1736-1803). Brindley was involved with the design and construction of the Duke’s Bridgewater Canal during the 1760s which is attributed by K. R. Fairclough to be England’s ‘first arterial canal’. The Bridgewater Canal is featured on the plan shown above.

The plan is entitled ‘A Plan of the Navigable Canals now making in the inland parts of the Kingdom, for opening a Communication in the Ports of London, Bristol, Liverpool and Hull with the adjacent Towns and Rivers’.

The plan shows towns and cities marked along the line of rivers and canals from ports. Many places are represented including Liverpool, Chester, Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Statistics about canals also feature on the plan including the Trent to the Mersey, the Birmingham Canal and also the Bridgewater Canal.

For biographical information about James Brindley, see K. R. Fairclough, ‘Brindley, James (1716–1772)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3435]
For information about Francis Egerton, third Duke of Bridgewater, see K. R. Fairclough, ‘Egerton, Francis, third duke of Bridgewater (1736–1803)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8584]