Yarm Bridge
{{Short description|Listed building in North Yorkshire, England}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox bridge
| name = Yarm Bridge
| image = Yarm-bridge03.jpg
| alt =
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| coordinates = {{Coord|54.511975|-1.355803|display=inline, title}}
| os_grid_reference = NZ418131
| qid = Q17532233
| carries = A67 road
| crosses = River Tees
| locale = Yarm
| heritage = Grade II* listed{{NHLE |desc=YARM BRIDGE OVER RIVER TEES, Yarm|num=1105658|access-date=22 May 2024}}{{NHLE |desc=Yarm Bridge, Egglescliffe|num=1006763|access-date=22 May 2024}}
| id = 1105658
1006763
| id_type = Historic England numbers
| preceded = Yarm Viaduct
| followed = Preston Pipe Bridge
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| length = {{convert|330|ft}}
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| built = 1400
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Yarm Bridge is a Grade II* listed masonry road bridge over the River Tees,
connecting the towns of Yarm and Egglescliffe.{{cite web |title=Yarm Bridge |url=https://heritage.stockton.gov.uk/articles/places/yarm-bridge/ |website=Stockton Heritage |access-date=11 July 2024}}
History
The main thoroughfare through the town of Yarm was historically West Street, which at the River Tees led to a ford.{{cite book |last1=Woodhouse |first1=Robert |title=The River Tees: A North Country River |date=1991 |publisher=Terence Dalton Limited |location=Lavenham |isbn=0861380916|page=63}} A "bridge of Yarum" is mentioned in 1228, with a bridge at the location seemingly in a bad condition, in 1305 when Edward I granted a 5 year toll to repair it. In 1400, Walter Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, ordered a replacement road bridge in stone. It originally consisted of 5 pointed arches, however in the modern day, only the three central arches remain.{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Martin |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |last3=Williamson |first3=Elizabeth |title=County Durham |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT ; London |isbn=978-0-300-22504-4 |page=383}}
During the English Civil War the northmost arch of the bridge was destroyed and was replaced by a draw bridge, to prevent parliamentary forces from attacking the controlling royalists.{{cite web |title=Bridges over the Tees |url=https://myice.ice.org.uk/ICEDevelopmentWebPortal/media/Documents/Regions/UK%20Regions/Tees-Bridges-Leaflet-online.pdf |website=myice.ice.org.uk |publisher=Institute of Civil Engineers |access-date=3 March 2023}} This span was not replaced until 1785.
In 1771 a major flood on the Tees, along with others in the North-East, caused major damage to many of the river's bridges. Despite escaping the flood without damage, the small size of bridges span meant that the flow was unable to pass beneath and instead serious damage was caused to the town, with every house being underwater.{{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}} Partly as a result of a desire to avoid this problem in future and a need to increase the bridge's capacity for traffic, it was decided, in 1803, to replace the bridge with an iron bridge. This bridge was built under the direction of Thomas Wilson. By 1805 the arches where erected.{{cite book |last1=Rennison |first1=R. W. |title=Civil Engineering Heritage Northern England |date=1981 |pages=70-101 |url=https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/book/10.1680/cehne.25189 |chapter=3. County Durham and Cleveland |chapter-url = https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/cehne.25189.0003|publisher = the Institution of Civil Engineers|via=ICE Virtual Library}} Unfortunately, at the beginning of the next year, the completed but unopened structure collapsed, and the stone bridge was instead doubled in width.
Today it carries the A67 road.{{cite journal|last1=Betteney |first1=Alan |title=Crossing the Tees: Fords, Ferries and Bridges |url=http://www.teesarchaeology.com/home/documents/HG_CrossingtheTees_AW.pdf |website=River Tees Rediscovered |publisher=Tees Archaeology |access-date=11 July 2024 |date=2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313155516/https://teesarchaeology.com/home/documents/HG_CrossingtheTees_AW.pdf|archive-date=13 March 2023|url-status=dead|pages=23–26}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk/yarmroad.html Bridges on the Tyne]
{{Crossings navbox
|structure = Crossings
|place = River Tees
|bridge = Yarm Bridge
|upstream = Yarm Viaduct
|downstream = Preston Pipe Bridge
next road bridge Jubilee Bridge}}
Category:Crossings of the River Tees
Category:Bridges in North Yorkshire