X-Nico

4 unusual facts about William Fairbairn


Blackfriars Bridge, Manchester

William Fairbairn entered with a design for a single-span cast iron bridge.

Eaton Hodgkinson

Hodgkinson used all his spare time in reading science and mathematics and soon introduced himself into Manchester's scientific community, meeting, among others, his future collaborator, Sir William Fairbairn.

Iron armour

Among its members was Sir William Fairbairn, a noted civil and structural engineer who had also built over 80 iron vessels before retiring from shipbuilding.

Saw-tooth roof

British engineer and architect William Fairbairn is sometimes credited with the first designs for what he termed the shed principle possibly as early as 1827.


Brunswick Mill, Ancoats

The mill is of fireproof construction and was built by David Bellhouse, but it is suspected that William Fairbairn was involved in the design.

Cast-iron architecture

The first use was at the Water Street terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830 to a design by William Fairbairn, a successful design which was demolished about 1900 owing to the widespread concern about cast iron under bridges on the rail network in Britain.


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