Helmsley Bridge

{{Short description|Bridge in Helmsley, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}

File:Flood level markers, Helmsley Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 2347207.jpg

Helmsley Bridge, sometimes known as Rye Bridge, is a historic bridge in Helmsley, a town in North Yorkshire, in England.

The bridge carries the A170 road{{cite news |last1=Connell |first1=Dylan |title=Helmsley: bridge on the A170 to close for two weeks |url=https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/23546312.helmsley-bridge-a170-close-two-weeks/ |access-date=27 December 2024 |work=Gazette & Herald |date=25 May 2023}} over the River Rye, just below the mouth of the Borough Beck.{{cite book |last1=Page |first1=William |title=A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1 |date=1914 |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol1/pp485-505}} It was constructed in the Mediaeval period, perhaps in the 14th century, and probably for Rievaulx Abbey. It is the oldest surviving bridge over the Rye,{{cite book |last1=Jervoise |first1=Edwyn |title=The Ancient Bridges of the North of England |date=1931 |publisher=Architectural Press}} but was largely rebuilt in the late 18th century. The parapet may have been rebuilt,{{NHLE |desc=Rye Bridge |num=1149305 |access-date=27 December 2024}} and it was repaired in 2023. It is a scheduled monument{{NHLE |desc=Helmsley Bridge |num=1004902 |access-date=27 December 2024}} and has been a grade II listed building since 1955.

The bridge is built of sandstone and has two arches, one {{convert|37|ft|m}} wide and the other only {{convert|23|ft|m}} wide. Each has double arch rings, and they have buttresses between them. The bridge was originally about {{convert|12|ft|m}} across, with pointed arches, but was later widened upstream, with round arches, to a total breadth of {{convert|20|ft|m}}. The bridge has a band, a parapet and coping.