Bewdley Bridge
Encyclopedia
Bewdley Bridge is a three-span masonry arch bridge
over the River Severn
at Bewdley
, Worcestershire
. The two side spans are each 52 feet (15.8 m), with the central span 60 feet (18.3 m). The central arch rises 18 feet (5.5 m). Smaller flood arches on the bank bridge the towpath. The bridge is 27 feet (8.2 m) wide.
at this location since 1447, each being destroyed and replaced. Severe flooding in 1795 destroyed the previous bridge. That bridge comprised five pointed stone arches. A stone gatehouse on one pier had been replaced with a stone cottage by the time of a 1781 print. One of the arches had also been damaged by the Royalists in 1644 and rebuilt in timber.
Parts of a fifteenth century bridge were rediscovered in 2004 during excavations for new flood defences.
Thomas Telford
designed the current bridge, which was built in 1798 by Shrewsbury
-based contractor John Simpson for £9,000. Its toll house was demolished in the 1960s.
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
over the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
at Bewdley
Bewdley
Bewdley is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England, along the Severn Valley a few miles to the west of Kidderminster...
, Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
. The two side spans are each 52 feet (15.8 m), with the central span 60 feet (18.3 m). The central arch rises 18 feet (5.5 m). Smaller flood arches on the bank bridge the towpath. The bridge is 27 feet (8.2 m) wide.
History
There has been a bridgeBridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
at this location since 1447, each being destroyed and replaced. Severe flooding in 1795 destroyed the previous bridge. That bridge comprised five pointed stone arches. A stone gatehouse on one pier had been replaced with a stone cottage by the time of a 1781 print. One of the arches had also been damaged by the Royalists in 1644 and rebuilt in timber.
Parts of a fifteenth century bridge were rediscovered in 2004 during excavations for new flood defences.
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...
designed the current bridge, which was built in 1798 by Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
-based contractor John Simpson for £9,000. Its toll house was demolished in the 1960s.
Further reading
- Cragg, R., Civil Engineering Heritage - Wales & West Central England, Thomas Telford Publishing, 2nd edn., 1997, ISBN 0-7277-2576-9
- Witts, C., A Century of Bridges, River Severn Publications, 2nd edn., 1998, ISBN 0-9532711-0-2