Bridgegate, Chester

{{Infobox historic site | name = Bridgegate, Chester| native_name = | image = Bridgegate.jpg| image_size = 250| caption = Bridgegate from the south| locmapin = Cheshire| map_width = 250 | map_caption = Location in Cheshire| alt =

| coordinates = {{coord|53.1862|-2.8893|display=inline,title}}

| location = Between Lower Bridge Street and the Old Dee Bridge, Chester, England| gbgridref = SJ 406 658| area = | elevation = | formed = | founded = | built = 1781| built_for = Chester City Corporation| demolished = | rebuilt = | restored = | restored_by = | architect = Joseph Turner| architecture = Neoclassical | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | governing_body = | designation1 = Grade I| designation1_offname = | designation1_type = | designation1_criteria = | designation1_date = 28 July 1955| delisted1_date = | designation1_parent = | designation1_number = 1376320 | designation1_free1name = | designation1_free1value = | designation1_free2name = | designation1_free2value = | designation1_free3name = | designation1_free3value = | designation2 = | designation2_offname = | designation2_type = | designation2_criteria = | designation2_date = | delisted2_date = | designation2_parent = | designation2_number = | designation2_free1name = | designation2_free1value = | designation2_free2name = | designation2_free2value = | designation2_free3name = | designation2_free3value = }}

Bridgegate in Chester, Cheshire, England, forms part of the city walls. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.{{NHLE |num= 1376320|desc= The Bridgegate, Chester |access-date= 8 April 2012 |mode=cs2}}

History

The Roman city walls were extended to the south in the 12th century with a wall parallel to the north bank of the River Dee. This section of the wall incorporated the original Bridgegate which must have been built by the 1120s, as the office of sergeant of the gate was recorded in that decade. The gate guarded the southern entrance to the town; the road from North Wales ran through the gateway directly after crossing the Old Dee Bridge. It is possible that the gateway was rebuilt at the time the bridge was rebuilt in the later part of the 14th century.{{Citation | last =Ward | first =Simon | title =Chester: A History | publisher =Phillimore | year = 2009 | location =Chichester | pages = 37, 39| isbn =978-1-86077-499-7 }} Between 1521 and 1624 the bridge tolls were controlled by the Talbot family, the Earls of Shrewsbury, whose town house, now the Bear and Billet, was nearby.{{Citation|title=Major buildings: City walls and gates|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=57326&strquery=bridgegate|year=2005|series=A History of the County of Chester: The City of Chester: Culture, Buildings, Institutions|volume=5|issue=2|pages=213–225|editor-last=Thacker|editor2-last=Lewis|editor-first=A.T.|editor2-first=C.P.|access-date=18 August 2009}}

At the end of the 15th century the bridge consisted of a Gothic arch with a tower on each side. In 1600–01 a square tower was added which contained machinery for lifting river water into the town. This was known as John Tyrer's Water Tower, after its builder, but the tower was destroyed in the siege of Chester in 1644–65. The present bridge was built in 1781 for Chester City Corporation, the architect being Joseph Turner.

Architecture

Bridgegate is built in yellow sandstone ashlar in neoclassical style and consists of a segmental arch over the carriageway with a round pedestrian archway in each abutment. Along its top are balustraded parapets on each side of the footpath.