Mellor Bridge, Marsden
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The Green, Marsden, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire HD7 6NF
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A major packhorse road ran from Clough Lea to Hey Green and Easter Gate. From there it went over Clowes Moor to Rochdale. There are packhorse bridges at Clough Lea and Close Gate Bridge, from where it went up Willykay Clough to Denshaw and Ogden. Part of the packhorse road, called Rapes or Reeps Highway ran from Marsden to the Saddleworth boundary where it became the Buck Road.
In 1760, the Huddersfield to Manchester turnpike was built. It entered the village down the road from Chain, through Gatehead, along Brougham Road, went along Towngate to Throstle Nest, then to the south of Pule Hill, along Old Mount Road.
Marsden is unusual in that it hosts two packhorse bridges. Mellor Bridge links the St Bartholomews Church to The Green. Nearby is the 4.8 km (3 miles) long Standedge Tunnel (see entry) on the Huddersfield narrow Canal, built by Benjamin Outram.
By road: Off A62, via Church Lane
By rail: Marsden Station is approximately 1.5 km away.
Addison, Sir William, The Old Roads of England, Harper Collins, ISBN 0 7134 1714 5 (1980)
Albert, W., The Turnpike Road System in England 1663- 1840, Cambridge University Press, ISBN O 5210 3391 8 (1972)
Harrison, David, The Bridges of Medieval England: Transport and Society 400-1800, Oxford University Press, ISBN-10: 0199226857 (2007)
Hartwell, Michael, Illustrated Guide to the Packhorse Bridges of the Lake District, Ernest Press, ISBN-10: 0948153318 (1994)
Hinchcliffe, Ernest, Guide to the Packhorse Bridges of England, Cicerone Press, ISBN-10: 1852841435 (1994)
Lewis, Carenza, Village, Hamlet and Field: Changing Medieval Settlements in Central England, Windgather Press, ISBN-10: 0953863034 (2001)
Williamson, Tom, Shaping Medieval Landscapes: Settlement, Society, Environment, Windgather Press, ISBN-10: 0954557581 (2004)
River Corridor Greenway Project - River Tunnel Walk, Marsden
Walking Britain - Standedge Trail from Marsden