Description

1⅞ in (48 mm) spanner in wrought iron of overall length 0.8 m. Believed to have been used in erecting Stephenson and Fairbairn’s tubular bridges over the Conwy and Menai Strait (c.1848-1850).

With a 1⅞ in head this spanner was unlikely to have been used to tighten nuts on the structure of the bridge (no nuts of this size are used on the structures). It is possible that the spanner was used on machinery associated with the construction works. This item was formerly owned by Mrs Hyam now deceased for some time whose great grandfather (born c.1815?) worked on the bridge.