Summary

A mid-C18 bridge spanning the River Frome between the civil parish boundaries of Dorchester and Stinsford.

Description

A road bridge of 1748 date, widened in 1927.

MATERIALS: ashlar stone and reinforced concrete.

DESCRIPTION: the bridge is of three unequal spans, each with a round arch with moulded archivolts. They spring from restored, pointed cutwaters. The central arch is widest (c.12ft). There is a double plat-band above the arches, at road level. The name and date are incised in contemporary lettering in an original tablet set in the parapet wall: GREYS BRIDGE 1748. The plain parapet wall has weathered coping and square returned wing walls over the abutments. The parapets are stepped out each end to form pedestrian refuges. The widened section is built of reinforced concrete and re-faced in the original stonework.

History

Constructed in 1748, the bridge carries London Road over the River Frome to replace Stockham or Stocking Bridge, which stood a few hundred feet to the north. It was built with an endowment from Mrs Lora Pitt (nee Grey) of Kingston Maurward (qv). Two metal plaques were recorded as fixed to the parapets in 1987. One was an example of a ‘Transportation’ plate commonly fixed to bridges in Dorset during the reign of George IV, which threatened transportation for life for anyone found guilty of wilfully damaging the bridge. The other indicated that the bridge was probably repaired in 1835. The bridge was widened on the downstream side by 6ft in 1927. It is named and featured in Far From the Madding Crowd (1874) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) by Thomas Hardy.

Reasons for Listing

Grey’s Bridge, Dorset, of mid-C18 date, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: it is a neatly-made structure with well-constructed arches to the spans, and deep, pointed cutwaters with contemporary refuges;
* Cultural: as the location of key events in both Far From the Madding Crowd (1874) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) by Thomas Hardy.

External Links

• Historic England Listing

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Period property manual, victorian house manual 2 books collection set by ian rock
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair