:Canaston Bridge
{{Short description|Bridge in Pembrokeshire, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = Wales
| static_image =
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| coordinates = {{coord|51.80|-4.81|region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| official_name = Canaston Bridge
| welsh_name =
| population =
| population_ref =
| community_wales =
| unitary_wales = Pembrokeshire
| constituency_westminster = Preseli Pembrokeshire
| constituency_welsh_assembly = Preeli Pembrokeshire
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{{Infobox road junction
| country = GBR
| road_type = A
| name = Canaston Bridge
| other_names= Pont Canaston
| image =
| image_caption =
| maint = South Wales Trunk Road Agent
| location = Robeston Wathen, Pembrokeshire
| coord =
| roads = {{Flatlist|
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| type = Roundabout
| const =
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| opened = 2011
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Canaston Bridge is the location in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales where the A40 trunk road crosses the Eastern Cleddau. It is on the edge of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, {{convert|14|mi|km}} northeast of Pembroke, and close to Oakwood Theme Park and Blue Lagoon waterpark. It is about half a mile upstream of Blackpool Mill, at the normal tidal limit of the river.{{cite web|title=Ordnance Survey|url=https://www.bing.com/maps/?mkt=en-gb&v=2&cp=51.8~-4.81&lvl=12&sp=Point.51.8_-4.81_Canaston%20Bridge&sty=s|accessdate=11 June 2020}}
Name
Activity
A pumping station removes some 33 megalitres of water per day for Welsh Water. The river is monitored at Canaston Bridge for flood risk downstream.{{cite web|title=West Wales Rivers Trust: Canaston Bridge|url=https://westwalesriverstrust.org/the-cleddau-trail/eastern/e06-canaston-bridge/|accessdate=12 June 2020}} Hydrometric data at the bridge are kept by Natural Resources Wales.{{cite web|title=NRW: National River Flow Archive|url=https://nrfa.ceh.ac.uk/data/station/info/61002.html|accessdate=11 June 2020}}{{Coflein|num=408321|desc=Canaston Bridge, Pumping Station |access-date=29 September 2021}}
Canaston Woods Walk, promoted by Pembrokeshire County Council, starts at Canaston Bridge.{{cite web|title=Pembrokeshire County Council: Canaston Woods Walk|url=https://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/walking-pembrokeshire/canaston-woods-walk|accessdate=12 June 2020}}
History
File:Canaston Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 219192.jpg
In 1914, the Royal Commission on Monuments published details of the bridge, with an illustration:
{{quote|The present Canaston Bridge is probably not of earlier date than the late 16th or early 17th century, and it doubtless has witnessed more than one renewal. Placed as it is on the principal line of communication from Gloucester and South Wales to Haverfordwest and St Davids, and at the point where the Cleddau ceases to be tidal, there must have been a bridge immediately upon or closely adjacent to the present site from the 12th century when transit of men and military stores to Ireland became a matter of importance. The name always appears in early records as Cananiston or the like.{{cite book|page=307|title=An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales|date=1914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qcOwIMflx7AC&dq=Canaston+Bridge+listed}}}}
Canaston Bridge is on the border between the ancient parishes of Robeston Wathen and Slebech. It is marked on a 1578 parish map as Cannaston, with a bridge shown,{{cite web|title=Penbrok comitat|publisher=British Library|url=https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/p/zoomify83390.html|accessdate=|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411005516/https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/p/zoomify83390.html|url-status=dead}} but there was no recorded parish or settlement of that name.{{cite web|title=GENUKI: Parish map (No.114)|url=https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/Herbrandston/ParishMap|accessdate=15 May 2015}} The Royal Commission recorded the name as a historic place name.{{cite web|title=RCAHMW: Canaston Bridge|url=https://historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk/placenames/recordedname/7e8a6b0d-80fd-4ca0-8ad0-658677dd9249|accessdate=11 June 2020}} Canaston Bridge is listed as a place name in the parish of Slebech and others, as it borders several.{{cite web|title=GENUKI: Slebech|url=https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/Slebech|accessdate=11 June 2020}}
Canaston Wood is a remnant of the mediaeval Narberth Forest, which was recorded in the early 12th century. The Manor of Canaston was recorded in the 14th century. Canaston Wood was mentioned as significant by George Owen in about 1600. Canaston Bridge itself is mediaeval, and is a Grade II listed structure. In 1635 there was a charcoal-fuelled blast furnace at Canaston Wood, the only known example of its period.{{cite web|title=Dyfed Archaeological Trust: Canaston and Minwear Woods|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/HLC/milford/area/330.htm|accessdate=11 June 2020}}
The Roads from Tavernspite Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. cvi), which replaced the earlier Roads from Tavernspite (Pembrokeshire) Act 1808 (48 Geo. 3. c. cxxxix), exacted tolls on the roads around the bridge.{{cite book|page=644|title=United Kingdom Statutes 1828|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lg0AQAAMAAJ&dq=Canaston+Bridge+listed|date=1828}}
Up to the time that the Cleddau Bridge was opened in 1975, Canaston Bridge was the lowest bridging point on the river.
In 2009, when the Robeston Wathen bypass was being constructed (including a new bridge), Dyfed Archaeological Trust carried out an investigation close to the bridge. They discovered flint scattering (Mesolithic or Neolithic) and evidence of early metal working.{{cite web|title=Dyfed Archaeological Trust: Evaluation at Canaston Bridge|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/projects/robestonwathen.pdf|accessdate=12 June 2020}}