Skerton Bridge, Lancaster

When it opened to traffic in 1788, Skerton was the first flat-topped bridge in England. Up to this point, larger stone bridges had been hump-backed. These could make it hard work for people and animals to haul themselves and their goods over the top. Skerton’s five elliptical arches make the bridge much flatter. They also make for a more elegant bridge. Skerton Bridge has an unmistakably classical look, with smooth, ashlar stonework topped by a fine balustrade. This is known as the Greek revival style — one that was becoming increasingly fashionable in the 1780’s.

A feature combining style and practicality is the bridge’s use of stormwater passages either side of every arch. These tunnels pierce the structure, allowing flood-water to pass through if the river is flooding. Each stormwater passage is decorated with Doric pillars and a triangular pediment. Down at water level, meanwhile, stone cutwaters point into the river to reduce the pressure on the supporting piers.

The bridge represented the pinnacle of engineering design in the 1780’s. The final bill was £14,000 — the equivalent of £1.5m in modern money.

All the more surprising, then, that the Lancashire County authorities should have chosen a relatively young and untested architect to deliver the project; a man who — so far as we know — had never previously built so much as a house from his own plans.

The story of how Thomas Harrison came to design and build Skerton Bridge offers a fascinating insight into late eighteenth century England.

Thomas was born in Ripon, Yorkshire, in 1844, the son of a joiner. He might have been expected to follow his father into the woodworking trade, but at Ripon Grammar School he made friends with George Cuitt, a schoolboy artist who had already been talent-spotted by Sir Lawrence Dundas, a fabulously rich local landowner. Sir Lawrence had decided to fund George’s education in Rome. But George didn’t want to travel alone and he asked whether his friend Thomas could come too. Sir Lawrence agreed.

For two Yorkshire boys from modest backgrounds this was the most extraordinary opportunity. Thomas and George were soon enjoying their own version of the aristocratic Grand Tour. But Thomas knew this wasn’t a holiday. If he was going to transform himself from joiner to architect he would have to work furiously hard. And he did. He enrolled at Rome’s Academia di San Luca, an internationally famous centre for the study of art. He sketched ancient structures like Trajan’s Column, the Colosseum and the Pantheon. And he crossed Italy to study other examples of classical architecture. He looked closely at how the Romans used massive stones in their buildings, monuments and bridges. Some people think he eventually borrowed ideas for Skerton Bridge from the second century Augustine Bridge at Rimini.

And it’s possible that the stormwater passages he built into Skerton Bridge were inspired by the oldest surviving bridge in Rome, the Pons Fabricius, built in 62 BCE.

Learning from ancient buildings and bridges was useful. But what Thomas really needed was a construction project to cut his teeth on. And when in Rome who better to ask than the Pope? He offered to design Pope Clement XIV a new museum to display a collection of classical statues. Clement liked the idea but he didn’t buy it. Next Thomas submitted facelift plans for one of the most famous squares in Rome, Piazza del Populo. Again, the scheme was widely applauded but rejected. Reluctant to take no for an answer, Thomas approached the Pope again, and this time Clement commissioned him to make alterations to the sacristy in the very heart of St Peter’s Basilica. Thomas must have been jubilant: this was a plum job and just the sort of project that might make his name. But then, quite suddenly, Pope Clement died and the sacristy project died with him.

Thomas spent seven years in Rome. He returned to England in 1776 with medals for design expertise and the Academy’s Order of Merit but with no completed buildings to his credit.

By now, incidentally, his old schoolfriend, the artist George Cuitt was also back in England. He had tried to establish himself in London. But his health was frail and he returned to Ripon where he gradually built a reputation as a fashionable portrait and landscape artist.

When Thomas arrived back in London, he exhibited his the plans of his Roman projects at the Royal Academy. He also submitted designs for a new bridge and a road in the capital. But he still couldn’t land that elusive first commission. Deciding that it was cheaper to be unemployed in Yorkshire, he too went home to Ripon. It’s not clear how he earned a living for the next few years. It’s thought he might have worked as a clerk of works or surveyor on building projects in the north of England, gaining essential practical experience while building other men’s designs.

What we do know is that he didn’t give up his architectural ambitions. In 1782 at the age of 38 he entered a competition to design a new bridge across the River Lune at Lancaster. The 12th Century Old Loyne Bridge was falling apart, with carts sometimes tumbling into the River Lune over its crumbling parapets.

The Lancashire county authorities were offering a prize of 20 guineas to the person who submitted the most convincing design for a replacement. Despite his sketchy cv, the prize went to Thomas.

He had scarcely begun work on the bridge when other contracts began to come his way. He was asked to design and build a cupola for Lancaster town hall — the building that is now Lancaster Museum. Next came the tower for St John’s church in Chapel Street, Lancaster.

And there were commissions for houses, including Greycourt on St Mary’s Gate.

Most importantly he was given the long term task of remodelling Lancaster Castle. This was a massive undertaking which would take years to complete. But it meant that Thomas was finally established as a professional architect. It also meant that he could afford to settle down and start a family. In 1785 he married a local woman, Margaret Shackleton, at the Priory church in Lancaster. They went on to have five children. As his professional reputation grew, Thomas was offered new commissions across the North of England and into Scotland. When he was asked to modernise Chester castle he moved his young family south to Chester.

Despite the late start, Thomas went on to enjoy a long and successful career. His last work, like his first, was an adventurous new bridge: the Grosvenor Bridge in Chester. On completion in 1833 it was the longest single span arch in the world and it was opened by the future Queen Victoria. Sadly Thomas died before the bridge was completed.

Skerton Bridge itself turned out to be influential in the world of bridge building. The engineer John Rennie had visited the construction site in 1784 and he and Thomas had become friends. Some have suggested that Rennie’s majestic nine-arched Waterloo Bridge which opened in 1817 was partly inspired by Skerton.

Thomas never became as famous as John Rennie, possibly because most of his work was done in the North rather than London. But he did design and build some impressive country houses, public buildings, bridges and monuments many of which still survive. And it all began with Skerton Bridge.

NB: Most of the information in this piece is from an excellent book by John Champness: “Thomas Harrison Georgian Architect of Chester and Lancaster, 1744-1829”.