Description

BIDEFORD

SS4526 BRIDGE STREET
842-1/7/19 Bideford Bridge including parapet
08/11/49 walls and gates of E abutment

GV I

Bridge across River Torridge. Probably C15, encasing timbers
of a wooden bridge originally built in late C13. Widened to
include footpaths in 1795-1810. Further widened to provide
double carriageway by Thomas Page of London in 1867. Parapets
and cutwaters rebuilt in 1925.
Stone rubble with dressed stone voussoirs. Parapets of
reinforced concrete and rough-faced coursed stone blocks with
copings of dressed stone. Granite piers.
Consists of 24 pointed arches of differing widths, believed to
result from its timber origins. On either side of each one is
a segmental arch added to carry the footpaths of 1795-1810.
Parapets of 1925 project on reinforced concrete cantilevers.
Each parapet carries 6 iron lamp-standards on concrete
pedestals; these closely resemble the originals of 1925,
although their tops are late C20.
The eastern abutment retains the parapet-walls of 1867 with
chamfered copings. On each side is a pair of octagonal granite
gate-piers, the shafts with trefoil-headed panels; pyramidal
caps with coved bases, the east pier on each side with an
ornate iron lampholder on top; each side has original iron
gates decorated with scrollwork. Matching gate pier at west
end of north parapet.
At 678ft the 'Long Bridge' is reckoned to be the longest in
Devon (Barnstaple Bridge is 530ft). Bishop Quinil of Exeter
(1280-91) is said to have granted indulgences to those
contributing to its building. Bishop Stapeldon left it 40s in
his will of 1327. Late C14 and early C15 bishops granted
indulgences towards its rebuilding or repair, but a papal
letter of 1459 describes it as being of wood. Leland
(c1535-43) is the first to describe it as built of stone.
Timbers were found encased in the masonry during the
alterations of 1925; one of them is preserved in Bideford
Public Library. In the Middle Ages there was a chapel at each
end of the bridge: St Anne on the east, Allhallows on the
west.
(Transactions of Devonshire Association: Duncan AG: The Long
Bridge of Bideford (article): 1902-: P.222-264; Whiting FE:
The Long Bridge of Bideford: Bideford: 1945-; Henderson C: Old
Devon Bridges: 1938-: P.92-3, PLATE 42).

Listing NGR: SS4557126430

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Bideford Long Bridge at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q16984290

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

• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)