Engineer Wharf
Engineer Wharf (or Marple Wharf) is situated on the north side of the canal, close to the foot of Marple Locks, and it housed the canal company's workshops. The Tithe Map of 1850 shows the wharf prior to the construction of Marple Viaduct by the Sheffield and Midland Railway Company, which carried their line over the river Goyt as well as over the wharf.
At this time all the land shown on this portion of the map was owned by the Peak Forest Canal Company and occupied by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company.
The buildings to the south of the canal were known as Aqueduct Mills by 1889. Originally, the two-storey building facing the canal was the Queen's Hotel. In the early years of the 19th century, this hostelry was used by fly-boat passengers travelling on the Peak Forest Canal as well as the Macclesfield Canal after it opened in 1831. Passengers were able to enjoy the facilities while they waited for horses to be changed but its trade diminished rapidly with the coming of the railway.
Subsequently, the Marple Bone-Dust, Glue and Size Company moved onto the site, equipped with disintegrators, bone-dust sieving machines, wooden boiling cisterns and glue coolers. Later, glue and size were still being manufactured here under the name of the Marple Chemical Company. Afterwards, the site became a Calico Mill and nowadays it is a business park.
Calico can be:
A plain-woven cotton cloth manufactured from
unbleached, and sometimes not fully processed, cotton. This means that the
fabric has not been cleaned or treated with any chemicals and as a result it
may contain some imperfections and marks.In this context it is likely that the mill produced the former fabric.
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| Marple Aqueduct on the right
and Marple Viaduct on the left, early 20th century. The viaduct crosses over the canal at an acute angle and Bottom Lock Change Bridge can just be seen behind the viaduct. Aqueduct House stands on the far left and Aqueduct Mills are on the right. Marple Viaduct opened in 1865 and it consists of 12 stone arches and one girder bridge at its eastern end that carries the line over the Peak Forest Canal. Note the two-storey building facing the canal, which was originally the Queen's Hotel. |
The girder bridge at the
eastern end of Marple Viaduct, 1920s. Immediately beyond the bridge, out of sight on the left, is Engineer Wharf where the company's workshops were located. Bottom Lock Change Bridge is in the centre background. There is no towpath through this bridge, so horses had to be unhitched before boats could pass under it. |
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| Aqueduct House,
1906. The first house on this site was built in 1804 for £130 and it was the dwelling of the Wharfinger. It is understood that it was subsequently rebuilt as the residence of the Chief Engineer of the Peak Forest Canal Company but later it was downgraded for the senior craftsman employed at Engineer Wharf. |
The carpenter's shop on
Engineer Wharf, 27 July 1978. By this time it was the only building left standing on the wharf and it is understood that the blacksmith's shop once stood to the left of it. |
Engineer Wharf, 23 November 2006.
