Eashing Bridges

Heritage listing

Details This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 17/10/14. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records. DESCRIPTION The monument includes a medieval multi-span bridge situated across two branches of the River Wey at Lower Eashing. The bridge is built of Bargate and local sandstone rubble and consists of two spans joined by a causeway. Each span originally probably consisted of five arches, as the cutwaters buried in the banks suggest, yet at present only three are visible at the eastern terminal, and four at the western terminal. The remaining arches survive buried in the banks, while the medieval connecting road is buried underneath the modern road surface. All arches have double voussoirs. The cutwaters are pointed on the upstream side and rounded on the downstream side. The bridge was repaired in 1766, when a low brick parapet was added, and later timber rails fixed to the oak bearers running through the bridges. Four pairs of Victorian ties strengthen the western arches. Given the alignment of the two bridges and the levels of the road surfaces it is likely that the two parts of the bridge were once connected. Eashing Bridge was built in about the 13th century. It is one of a chain of medieval bridges across the River Wey between Farnham and Guildford, which are considered to be the work of the Cistercian monks of Waverley Abbey. Similarities in construction suggest that they were built around the same time, possibly after the floods of 1233, when many of the earlier bridges were destroyed. The bridge is listed Grade I. A short distance to the east of the bridge is an Anglo-Saxon forti

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.