File:Iron Bridge Plaque - geograph.org.uk - 1300716.jpg

These are the words on the plaque

Nathaniel Wright purchased the Brabyns Estate in 1800. Wright was a wealthy coalminer who owned pits at Poynton and was a contemporary of Samuel Oldknow. Oldknow considered using cast iron for the construction of Bottoms Bridge near to his Mellor Mill around the time Wright moved to Marple but chose the reliability of stone over this modern and relatively untried method. Cast iron was also considered for the Marple Aqueduct but designer Benjamin Outram opted for an all-stone construction too. So it was that Wright became possibly the first in the Northwest to use this modern material for a bridge when he decided that he needed access to his estate over the River Goyt from the direction of what is now Compstall.

At the turn of the 19th century the Salford Iron Works was a substantial Iron Foundry operated by James Bateman and William Sherratt. Their association with Wright began when they supplied him with a pumping engine for one of his coalmines in 1795. Sherratt was an engineer of considerable repute and it is easy to imagine him telling his friend Wright that he could build him a bridge of iron that would impress his peers. In 1813 he did just that when he constructed the slender and elegant cast iron carriage bridge with a personalised 'W' motif for Wright on his Brabyns estate. Despite sharing some similarities in design with several other cast iron bridges of the time this is the only one of its kind known to have been built by the Salford Iron Works.

Today the Brabyns Iron Bridge is a listed structure of national importance. As the only know surviving cast iron bridge of its kind in the Northwest it is now a unique example and is of particular importance because it has remained intact since its original construction without alteration or significant loss of fabric. The bridge survived in daily use with minimal maintenance until 1990, when a structural survey determined that it was at risk. In 1991 a Bailey bridge was erected across it as a temporary measure, allowing it to remain intact until the funds could be found to conduct proper repairs.

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