ABSTRACT
The arch bridge which has spanned the Taaf at Pontypridd since 1756 is remarkable, first for the story of its construction by a heroic mason, William Edwards, and secondly for its very unusual form. The bridge is built of hard and durable grey sandstone, from the quarries in the neighbourhood; the lime used was from the well-known Aberthaw cliff, on the north side of the Bristol Channel. The narrowness of the bridge and the steepness of the ascent were found inconvenient and dangerous, and, about twenty years ago, the roadway was, in consequence, raised at each end, and the surface paved. Mr John Smeaton might have been consulted by Edwards late in 1754 or in 1755 before he rebuilt the bridge and have recounted the fact to Jessop some years later. Smeaton's acquisition of the drawing, with Edwards's letter to Mr Capel Hanbury, was a sequel which must be considered largely accidental.
