Source/Archive record SCH4522 - A Historical and Architectual Assesment of Bridgewater House and Canal, Runcorn

This assessment, prepared in support of a planning application for the redevelopment of Bridgewater House and adjoining land, which contains the remains of the terminal tidal locks of the Bridgewater Canal, considers the historical and architectural significance of the two historic structures, which are both Grade II Listed buildings. It establishes that both the house and the remains of the canal are of considerable historical significance as the temporary residence built for the owner, the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, and his principal engineers, James Brindley and John Gilbert, who between them, as 'The Canal Trio', were responsible for the construction of what is usually regarded as the first true commercial canal in the country, as opposed to a Navigation, and the forerunner and model for many others of the canal era, which did much to generate and support the Industrial Revolution. The assessment suggests that both the house and the remains of the two tidal locks marking the seaward terminal of the Bridgewater Canal should be retained and respected in the proposed redevelopment of the site. Ideally at least the exterior of the house should be preserved in its existing form, possibly with false windows in the south-east facade, being replaced by full openings in the style of the originals. Where feasible the original arrangement of the spaces in the interior should be reinstated. It recommends that consideration should be given to avoiding any development which could adversely affect the remains of the two tidal locks and that efforts might be made to employ them as hard landscape features in the proposed development. The assessment identifies the redevelopment site as marking a significant site on the south bank of the Mersey and the later Manchester Ship Canal at a point which marks the terminal of the Bridgewater Canal, and suggests that this could perhaps be emphasised in the redevelopment of the site.