William Hazledine

William Hazledine
Born	Waters Upton, Shropshire, England
Died	Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England
Spouse	Miss Brayne
Work
Engineering discipline	Ironmaster Structural engineer
Significant projects	Chirk Aqueduct Menai Bridge

William Hazledine (1763, Waters Upton, Shropshire – 26 October 1840, Shrewsbury, Shropshire) was a pioneering English Ironmaster whose talent for casting structural ironwork helped to realise the designs of engineers such as Thomas Telford and architects including Henry Goodridge and Charles Bage. Hazledine's expertise in manufacturing and testing large iron castings was critical to the success of these pioneering projects.

Hazledine grew up in a rural setting and was trained as a millwright. Through a family connection, he took a senior position in a local forge and later set up in business with a partner. After that partnership was dissolved, Hazledine set up a number of foundries supplying large structural castings, notably at Coleham and Plas Kynaston (Cefn Mawr). In their time, these were among the most important centres of iron-bridge building expertise in Britain.

Structures

Hazledine's legacy is a range of spectacular structures including:

• Ditherington Flax Mill, Shrewsbury (1797)
• Chirk Aqueduct, Pontcysyllte, (1799)
• Bonar Bridge, Scotland (1811–1812)
• Menai Bridge (1819–1826)
• Mythe Bridge, Tewkesbury (1823–1826)
• Aldford Iron Bridge, Eaton Hall, Cheshire (1824)
• Conwy Suspension Bridge (1824–1826)
• Cleveland Bridge, Bath (1826)
• Stretton Aqueduct, Staffordshire (1832-3)

External links

• Pencil portrait by Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey
• Pencil portrait by Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey

References

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography