Wynch Bridge

{{Quote box

|quote = To persons accustomed to it, it is a very safe passage, but to strangers it is tremendous. At every step, the chains and their superstructure yield and spring, and there is no safeguard for the passenger but a small hand rail, which if leaned against gives the bridge a swinging motion, whilst beneath you yawns a black and horrid chasm, 60ft in depth, where the torrent rushes with a mighty noise amongst broken rocks.

|author = William Hutchinson

|source = 1776

|width = 25%

|align = left

}}

The original Bridge comprised a single span of {{convert|60|ft|m}} with a width of {{convert|2|ft|cm|spell=in}} and the deck laid directly upon 2 chains, {{convert|21|in|cm}} apart. It was restrained by further chains connecting the deck to the rock faces of the 60ft deep chasm below.{{cite journal |last1=Stephenson |first1=Robert |author1-link=Robert Stephenson |title=Description of Bridges of Suspension |journal=Edinburgh Philosophical Journal |date=1821 |volume=5 |pages=237–256 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/234387#page/271/mode/1up |access-date=26 June 2024}} It had only one hand rail, when first constructed but was given two after the damage of the 1774 flood.{{cite news |last1=Lloyd |first1=Chris |title=History of a 190-year-old bridge and the knee-trembling structure it replaced |url=https://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/16367836.history-190-year-old-bridge-knee-trembling-structure-replaced/ |access-date=26 June 2024 |work=Darlington and Stockton Times |date=20 July 2018 |language=en}}

File:Wynch Bridge, 1823.jpg

The bridge was built in 1741 for use by lead-miners, wishing to cross between Holwick and Bowlees.{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |last2=Williamson |first2=Elizabeth |title=County Durham |date=1983 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-09599-9 |page=364 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjHcM_LXhjEC |language=en}}{{cite web |last1=White |first1=Andrew |title=What's the story behind County Durham's wobbly bridge - and its tragic history? |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/19917366.wynch-bridge-teesdale-first-built-1741/ |website=The Northern Echo |access-date=26 June 2024 |language=en |date=13 February 2022}} Tradition holds, that it was the Holwick miners, employed at the Read-grove and Pike-Law lead mines, who constructed the bridge. One suggestion is that inspiration came from descriptions of suspension bridges found in the Himalayas.{{cite news |title=Winch Bridge Over the Tees |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-newcastle-weekly-courant-winch-bridg/150549746/ |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=The Newcastle Weekly Courant |date=23 September 1887 |pages=2}} It is believed that this would make it the first suspension bridge in Britain, and only the second in Europe, after the first in Saxony was built 7 years earlier.{{cite news |title=Suspension Bridges |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-suspension-bridges/150549720/ |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=22 May 1839 |pages=4}}

In the Great Flood of 1771 the south end of the bridge was lifted from its moorings. It was repaired, although no details of its repair have been located. It was repaired again in 1802, after one of the chains broke causing the death of 2 people. The bridge continued in use until a similar replacement was erected in 1830.{{cite journal |last1=Rennison |first1=R. W. |title=The Great Inundation of 1771 and the Rebuilding of the North-East's Bridges |journal=Archaeologia Aeliana |date=2019 |volume=29 |pages=269291 |doi=10.5284/1061067 |url=https://web-cdn.org/s/124/file/the-great-inundation.pdf |access-date=3 July 2024}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}{{cite book |last1=Tyrrell |first1=Henry Grattan |title=History of bridge engineering |date=1911 |publisher= |location=Chicago |page=204 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbridgee00tyrrrich/page/204/mode/2up |access-date=3 July 2024}} This replacement was financed by the Marquess of Cleveland, and was moved {{convert|10|m|ft|spell=in}} further downstream from Low Force, with more substantial metal pillars holding the chains to the rock.

An inspection in 2018 lead to safety fears due to the condition of suspension hangers, and the bridge closed for 2 months in 2019 to undertake urgent repairs, with decking and suspension joints being fixed.{{cite web |title=Teesdale's Wynch Bridge closed for eight weeks for repairs |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-49944984 |website=BBC News |access-date=3 July 2024 |date=5 October 2019}}{{cite news |title=Teesdale's Wynch Bridge was closed over safety fears |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-44950912 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=BBC News |date=26 July 2018}}{{cite news |title=Teesdale's Wynch Bridge reopens after repairs |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-50903449 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=BBC News |date=24 December 2019}}

• List of crossings of the River Tees
• Grade II* listed buildings in County Durham

{{reflist}}

{{Commons Category|Wynch Bridge}}

• {{cite web |title=Winch Bridge |url=http://www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk/winch.html |website=Bridges On The Tyne |access-date=26 June 2024}}

Category:Crossings of the River Tees

Category:Bridges in County Durham

Category:Bridges in North Yorkshire

Category:Grade II* listed buildings in North Yorkshire