Bedford Bridge crossed the River Ouse in the town of Bedford, in Bedfordshire. Probably built in the 12th century, it was fortified with two gatehouses, one of which was used first as a chapel, and later as the town gaol. The bridge was dismantled in 1811, and replaced with the larger Georgian bridge that still stands today.
History
12th-17th centuries
There may have been an older bridge on the site, but a stone bridge was probably built on the site in the 12th century – Simon de Beauchamp, who controlled Bedford Castle, was recorded as building the hospital of St John of Bedford a chapel on the bridge in either 1179 or 1194.
The bridge had seven arches, with the chapel in the form of a gatehouse in the middle of the bridge, and another gatehouse on the southern side. The arches were probably curved, with ribs on the underside of the arches; the stonework was of poor quality, with extensive use of rubble. 16th-century accounts suggest that the bridge was 100 m (330 ft) long and 4.1 m (13 ft) wide, with a 1 m (3.5 ft) high parapet.
In the early 14th century, the citizens of Bedford replaced the original chapel with a new one, dedicated to St Thomas, and installed a chaplain there, supported by a grant of local land, with authority to use those revenues to maintain the bridge. In 1332, however, Edward III attempted to appoint his preferred candidate to the post, leading to a confrontation between the royal sheriff and the townsfolk and an ongoing standoff. An official inquiry eventually agreed in 1349 that the Crown had the right to appoint the bridge’s chaplain, but that the town of Bedford could raise pontage, a tax used to maintain bridges.
The chapel fell out of use, and despite being rebuilt in the early 16th century, and had been abandoned by the 1550s. In 1589, the chapel was converted into the town’s goal, and the second gatehouse was later used as the magazine for the county militia.
18th-21st centuries
In 1765, the bridge was considered in need of updating; the gatehouses, which were blocking traffic, were pulled down and the rest of the bridge improved. Concerns persisted, soon the bridge was being described as “very ancient, narrow, inconvenient, and dangerous”. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1803 to construct a new bridge on the site, and work finally began in 1811.
The replacement bridge, designed by the architect John Wing, was opened in 1813, having cost £15,137 to construct. It had five arches and was made of high quality stone. It was widened between 1938 and 1940 to accommodate the increased flow of traffic, but retains its original Georgian appearance.
Bibliography
- Harrison, David Featherston. (2004) The Bridges of Medieval England: Transport and Society, 400-1800. Oxford (UK): Oxford University Press.
- Simco, Angela and Peter McKeague. (1997) Bridges of Bedfordshire. Bedford (UK): Bedfordshire County Council, Bedfordshire Archaeological Council and the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England.
Attribution
The text of this page is licensed under under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Photographs on this page include those drawn from the TuckDB postcards and Cambridge University Library websites, as of the versions dated 1 June 2020, and are attributed and license as follows: “Speed map,”adapted from photograph copyright Cambridge University Library, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License; “Old Bedford Bridge” (Public Domain).