Quay walls on north side of River Severn, extending south from Severn Bridge for 140m, including two flights of steps, Bewdley, Worcestershire

Summary

Quay walls and steps of probable C18 date and later and incorporating medieval fabric including a bridge abutment, with C19 and C20 repairs and further retaining walls. They are constructed of rubble and ashlar sandstone with a variety of dressings.

Description

Quay walls and steps of probable C18 date and later and incorporating medieval fabric including a bridge abutment, with C19 and C20 repairs and further retaining walls.

MATERIALS: constructed of rubble and ashlar sandstone with a variety of dressings.

DESCRIPTION: the quay walls stand on the north bank of the River Severn and the sections that adjoin either side of the Grade I listed bridge have pecked ashlar walls rising to squared coping above an oculus outflow. The wall to the north-east of the bridge is around 3m in length before the towpath returns northwards. The south-east quay wall ends 5m before a return to accommodate an uneven and worn set of stone steps to the footpath above. The ashlar quay wall continues for 70m to the south-east, partly hidden in vegetation and silt, and adjoins the north abutment of a former medieval bridge. The abutment appears to have medieval stone footings and the return wall has a pronounced batter and the lower courses splay outwards to meet a second set of stone river steps. The coping stones to the abutment are heavily worn and there are metal fixings to parts of the abutment and to other sections of quay walls. The wall extends south-east and adjoins another ashlar wall on higher ground with a raised level area, partly cobbled, that has a low wall to Stourport Road. This level area includes modern fixtures such as bench seating and equipment related to a water facility below ground, which are not of special interest. The roadside wall extends around 33m further to the south-east where the remains of stone terracing or a former set of stone steps at SO7883775380 is part-covered in silt.

The roadside wall has been raised with additional courses of masonry with less pronounced dressings and extends south-west along the roadside to Stourport Road and is obscured from view by vegetation for sections of its length. It terminates around 140 metres to the south-east of Severn Bridge.

History

Severn Bridge (also known as Bewdley Bridge) was designed by Thomas Telford and built 1797-1799 by his contractor John Simpson. It was built over the existing riverside quays which were probably formalised into their current arrangment in the early C18. Telford's design replaced an earlier bridge, built in 1447, that stood around 60 metres to the south and which had been partially destroyed in floods in 1795. Bewdley, formerly known as Beaulieu, and the adjacent settlement of Wribbenhall benefited from the advantageously low water levels on this section of the River Severn and river trade was brisk by the early C14. The crossing point was initially served by a ferry, mentioned in 1336, and the town gained increasing regional importance once a market charter was granted in 1376.

The earlier stone bridge is believed to have been destroyed during the Wars of the Roses and replaced in timber on the former stone abutments in 1460. By this time the settlement had developed with a new focus around the riverfront with timber quays to some stretches of riverside, most likely around Severn Side South. Local industries flourished and a five-arch stone bridge was built in 1483 to replace the timber structure. Bewdley had become a prosperous town and important inland port by the mid-C16 with an established packhorse road carrying goods to and from the river. The prosperity of the town peaked in the Georgian period with numerous well-appointed buildings built on each side of the river. A ford also crossed the river from the end of Lax Lane, crossing to the opposite north bank, but this fell out of use during the C18.

From the 1870s, river trade at Bewdley diminished due to competition from Stourport's terminus to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. The transhipment trade remained fiercely contested into the C19 and Telford’s rebuilding of the bridge was vital in the effort to retain Bewdley’s status as an inland port. The quays and quay walls are clearly shown on the 1884 map largely on their current alignment with the wall along Stourport Road extending to SO7890975333 and the river wall is shown to terminate around SO7892375299 where a footpath beside Severn House begins. This is shown more clearly on the Second Edition OS Map of 1903, where the line of the walls, including an additional central wall from the south-east of the medieval bridge abutment, is shown along with a set of steps to the quay outside Styles Warehouse.

The commercial decline of the port at Bewdley during the C19 resulted in the relative preservation of the Georgian layout and character of the town, which still survives despite various individual infill developments and the replacement of some buildings in the C20 and C21. The quay walls have had various repairs and alterations in the C20, including the insertion of below ground water services, and in 2022 some sections are hidden beneath silt and vegetation or have fallen into disrepair.

Reasons for Listing

Quay Walls on north side of River Severn, extending south from Severn Bridge for 140 metres, including two flights of steps, Bewdley, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a set of stone quay walls and steps from the C18 and C19 incorporating an earlier bridge abutment and probably other remains of late medieval quay structures;
* despite repairs and alterations over many years the walls remain on their historic alignment with some iron fixings and substantial coping stones.

Historic interest:

* as a set of evolved C18 and C19 sandstone quay structures that have retained their historic character with worn steps and an extravagantly splayed former bridge abutment. This is a surviving testament to the historic role of Bewdley as an important port on the River Severn from the C14 to the C19.

Group value:

* with the adjacent Severn Bridge by Thomas Telford (listed at Grade I) and numerous other listed buildings that face the quay from Beale’s Corner and Stourport Road.

External Links

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.