High Bridge is a bridge across the River Kennet

River Kennet

The Kennet is a river in the south of England, and a tributary of the River Thames. The lower reaches of the river are navigable to river craft and are known as the Kennet Navigation, which, together with the Avon Navigation, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Thames, links the cities of Bristol...

 in the town centre of Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

 in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

. It is the oldest surviving bridge that crosses the Kennet.

History

The first crossing of the Kennet in Reading was at Seven Bridges

Seven Bridges, Reading

Seven Bridges was a street named after seven bridges over streams of the River Kennet in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It connected St Giles' Street with St Mary's Butts to the north...

, into the most ancient part of the town around St Mary's Butts

St Mary's Butts

St Mary's Butts is a thoroughfare in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. On its west side is the Broad Street Mall. It is connected to the north with Broad Street, the pedestrianised primary high street of Reading...

. High Bridge provided a crossing into the eastern part of the town, which had grown due to the Abbey

Reading Abbey

Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors...

 which was founded in 1121.

In 1788 the timber framed bridge had started to become derilect. Due to the flourishing cloth trade in the town a more substantial bridge was required to carry the wagons across. In the same year a new stone bridge was built at a cost of £

Pound sign

The pound sign is the symbol for the pound sterling—the currency of the United Kingdom . The same symbol is used for similarly named currencies in some other countries and territories, such as the Irish pound, Gibraltar pound, Australian pound and the Italian lira...

3,500. It was designed by architect Robert Furze Brettingham

Robert Furze Brettingham

Robert Furze Brettingham was an English architect, the nephew of Matthew Brettingham the Elder, who practised in London with great success, and erected many mansion houses throughout the country.-Education:...

.