Red Bull Aqueduct

Listed building

What is recorded here

Red Bull Aqueduct is the dated 1828 brick crossing that lifts the Hall Green Branch over Liverpool Road on its way to the Trent and Mersey Canal. It survives as the first of two aqueducts across the deep Red Bull valley, where a high bank links the waterway now treated as the southern end of the Macclesfield Canal.

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Why it was built

The Hall Green Branch had to leave the higher Macclesfield route and reach its true meeting with the Trent and Mersey at Harding's Wood. Its chosen line crossed a deep valley, Liverpool Road and then the older main canal. A high bank and two bridges kept boats at the necessary height, with Red Bull Aqueduct providing the road passage.

People and work

The Trent and Mersey company owned this branch and its engineers directed the work, but the exact sources do not safely identify an individual designer. Builders used red and blue brick laid in alternating courses, with cut stone around the opening and along the upper edge. A stone panel on the bridge itself records the name and the Roman-number date 1828.

How it changed

Although company ownership and the brick-built character belong to the Trent and Mersey, this last mile and a half is now commonly regarded as part of the Macclesfield Canal. A serious bank failure occurred between Red Bull and Pool Lock aqueducts in 1987, where a modern overflow now stands. The road crossing itself retained its place within the repaired route.

What survives

The central cambered arch still carries the canal bank over Liverpool Road. Stone blocks protect the arch edges, and curved battered retaining walls run outward to square end piers. Brick supports, a heavy rounded band, stone parapet and the prominent dated panel preserve the original composition on both sides of the crossing.

Why it mattered

Red Bull solved the first major break in ground on the branch that joined the Macclesfield route to the wider Trent and Mersey network. Its brick construction also marks the change from the stone character of the Macclesfield Canal to the building practice of the older company. The surviving date and valley setting make that meeting of two canal systems unusually easy to read.