Wadebridge Bridge

Heritage listing

Details WADEBRIDGE WADEBRIDGE SW 9872-9972 9/253 Wadebridge Bridge 6.6.69 GV II* Road bridge over River Camel. Circa 1468, financed by Thomas Lovybound vicar of Egloshayle. Widened in 1847 and again in 1963, the consultant engineers Posford, Parry and Partners. Local stone rubble. Granite dressings used in the alterations of 1847 and 1963. The bridge, 320 feet long, originally had 17 arches, 12 of which visibly survive; the end arches having been built up and were used as cellars. The original pointed arches are 18 feet 6 inches wide and rise some 9 feet from the springing point. The piers are 12 feet wide with deep cutwaters between each arch, rising to form refuges in the parapets. In 1847 granite segmental arches were inserted across the cutwaters to widen the carriageway by 3 feet on either side, thereby diminishing the depth of the cutwaters. In 1963 the bridge was widened on the south east side, almost doubling the original width of the bridge. The design of the granite segmental arches of the 1847 widening was copied using rusticated granite blocks with cutwaters repeated, rising to form refuges. The bridge was mentioned by William of Worcester in his visit of 1478 and a detailed account is given by Leland (1538). The bridge originally connected 2 chapels on either side of the river, one dedicated to St Michael and the other known as King's Chapel, both of which have been demolished. Local legend states that Lovybound, patron of the bridge, was unsure how to build foundations on a river bed; however, after a dream about sheep shearing he set bales of wool on the river bed, which in time swole up and bound the shifting mud, thereby allowing secure foundations to be laid. Henderson, C and Coates, H Old Cornish Bridges and Streams, 1928, reprinted 1972 Polsue, J Lak

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.