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The King of Sweden requested his assistance in constructing
a waterway – the Gotha Canal – linking the North Sea and the
Baltic. Telford’s method of road building varied according to
the type of land the road was passing through and this is seen
clearly in the largest single project that he undertook, the
London to Holyhead road.
For the design and construction of the Menai Bridge,
Telford adopted a technique never used on this scale
before in Britain – a suspension bridge. The dual
carriageway road would be suspended by 16 great chains
and supported by two main stone piers on either side
of the straits. This would provide a single suspended span
of 579 feet towering 153 feet above the water – the longest
in the world.
An economic slump after the Napoleonic wars led the
government to offer cheap loans to encourage public works.
Telford became the engineering advisor to the Exchequer
Loans Commission in 1817. This entailed touring the country
surveying and inspecting the proposed sites and plans for those
projects seeking a loan. It meant that for a time he saw nearly
every civil engineering project in the country.
In 1820, Telford was asked to survey the Birmingham
canals to suggest ways of improving them. He was not only
shocked by the appalling state of the waterways, but does not
seem to have approved of Birmingham itself:
…Famous for Buttons, Buckles and Locks and Ignorance and
Barbarism. Its prosperity increases upon the corruption of Taste
and Morals.
The modifications to the Birmingham canals took longer
than expected, and by the time they were completed in 1827,
Telford was involved in the construction of the Birmingham
& Liverpool Junction Canal (it starts to the west of
Wolverhampton despite its name). This was to be his final
major work, now called the Shropshire Union.
Telford continued to take an interest in all his projects right
up to his death on 2 September, 1834 in his London home at
the Old Palace Yard. He was buried in Westminster Abbey
on application by the Institution of Civil Engineers, of which
he was both President and Founder. His life is best summed
up in his work which is an everlasting memorial to him, but
if words are needed these can be taken from the obituary
notice which appeared in the Shrewsbury Chronicle of
5 September, 1834:
His gradual rise from the stonemasons’ and builders’ yard to the
top of his profession in his own country, or we believe we may
say, in the world, is to be ascribed not more to his genius, his
consummate ability and persevering industry, than to his plain
honest, straightforward dealing and the integrity and candour
which marked his character through life.
Credits and Bibliography
My sincere thanks to Brian Crossley and the Institution of Civil Engineers for assistance
on the article and for display material at the Shrewsbury Flower Show.
Franklin, G, History of Salopian Lodge No. 262 (1988)
Graham, A, A History of Freemasonry in the Province of Shropshire (1892)
Adnitt & Naunton Gould, R.F, The History of Freemasonry, Caxton Publishing Co. (Vol.2, p462)
Howells, History of Phoenix Lodge and Chapter of Friendship No. 257 (1894)
Nagai, A., Life of Thomas Telford, Hitachi Maxwell (1985)
Nagai, A.,Thomas Telford and the Caledonian Canal: The Human and Social Aspects, Hitachi Maxell (1991)
Pearce, R.M, Thomas Telford, Shire Publications Ltd (1973)
Rickman, J (editor), Life of Thomas Telford Written by himself (1838)
Rolt, L.T.C, Thomas Telford, Longman (1958), Penguin (1979)
Shrewsbury Chronicle Newspapers (1788 – 1791, 1834)
Templeton, H, A History of Craft Freemasonry in Shropshire: 1732 – 1982 (1982)
The Commissioner’s
House in Portsmouth
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