Designed by inventor James Finley, it became the model for his later chain suspension bridges.

Its chains were made of 1.5-inch-square (3.8 cm) iron bar wrought into links of between 8 and 12 feet (2.44 and 3.66 m) in length.

"Part of the superstructure broke down in September, 1810, while a drove of cattle was crossing it, and in January, 1816, the bridge fell down, occasioned by the great weight of snow which remained on it, and a decayed piece of timber.

The illustration above (drawn by architect William Strickland) was published in the June 1810 issue of The Port Folio.

A watercolor copy of HSP's Birch painting (by Russian artist Pavel Svinin) is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.