Summary

Footbridge over Coundon Burn, C18.

Description

Footbridge over Coundon Burn, C18.

MATERIALS: dressed stone; side walls and vault are of squared stones laid in horizontal courses.

DESCRIPTION: a narrow single-span bridge carries a footpath or parkland ride at an oblique angle over the Coundon Burn. The structure comprises a simple pointed barrel vault about 8m long by 1.5m wide, that rises from low side walls, all capped by earth and gravel. There are no spandrels or headwalls but the gap where the north-east spandrel should be is infilled with stone corbelling to ease the exit of the path due to the angle at which it crosses the burn. There are short training walls up and downstream of the culvert and the stream bed is paved through the arch barrel. It has splayed abutments at each side.

History

Auckland Castle Park originated as a deer park for the Prince Bishops of Durham, probably in the C11 or C12, associated with their residence at Auckland Castle. The park had a herd of wild cattle until the C17 and there are records of successive restocking with deer. The park fell into decline during the Interregnum at which time the trees were cut down, but it was restocked, and the fishponds renewed by Bishop Cosin during the period 1660 to 1671. In 1750 Bishop Butler extended the park to take in areas of woodland and began renewing the pale and planting, operations which were interrupted by his death in 1752. He was succeeded by Bishop Trevor, who continued with the improvements, spending more than £8,000 on the Castle and park during the period 1752 to 1771. Ewan Christian undertook a refurbishment of Castle and park during the 1880s for Bishop Lightfoot.

The earliest record of a bridge at this location is Dixon's 1772 Plan of Auckland Castle Park. The first edition Ordnance Survey map, surveyed 1857 shows it as part of a network of paths or rides criss-crossing the valley of the burn. The bridge is unnamed by that and all subsequent editions.

Reasons for Listing

This bridge, of C18 date, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a largely intact barrel-vaulted C18 footbridge, of characteristically simple design and construction.

Historic interest:

* for its close historic association with Auckland Castle Park created for the Prince Bishops of Durham as a hunting estate.

Group value:

* it retains its historic relationship with the listed Auckland Castle and the registered Auckland Castle Park, and benefits from a spatial group value with numerous other listed buildings.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26580934

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.

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