Limpley Stoke Bridge (or Stokeford Bridge)
List Entry Summary
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Name: Limpley Stoke Bridge (or Stokeford Bridge)
List entry Number: 1005641
The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
District Type: Unitary Authority
Parish: Limpley Stoke
District Type: Unitary Authority
National Park: Not applicable to this List entry.
Grade: Not applicable to this List entry.
Date first scheduled: 11-Mar-1953
Date of most recent amendment: Not applicable to this List entry.
Legacy System Information
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System: RSM - OCN
UID: WI 335
This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.
List entry Description
Summary of Monument
Multi span bridge called Stokeford Bridge
Reasons for Designation
Multi-span bridges are structures of two or more arches supported on piers. They were constructed throughout the medieval period for the use of pedestrians and packhorse or vehicular traffic, crossing rivers or streams, often replacing or supplementing earlier fords. During the early medieval period timber was used, but from the 12th century stone (and later brick) bridges became more common, with the piers sometimes supported by a timber raft. Most stone or brick bridges were constructed with pointed arches, although semicircular and segmental examples are also known. A common medieval feature is the presence of stone ashlar ribs underneath the arch. The bridge abutments and revetting of the river banks also form part of the bridge. Where medieval bridges have been altered in later centuries, original features are sometimes concealed behind later stonework, including remains of earlier timber bridges. The roadway was often originally cobbled or gravelled. The building and maintenance of bridges was frequently carried out by the church and by guilds, although landowners were also required to maintain bridges. From the mid-13th century the right to collect tolls, known as pontage, was granted to many bridges, usually for repairs; for this purpose many urban bridges had houses or chapels on them, and some were fortified with a defensive gateway. Despite some modernisation the multi span bridge called Stokeford Bridge survives well and retains many of its original features indication how it was constructed and how it has developed.
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 9 July 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records. As such they do not yet have the full descriptions of their modernised counterparts available. Please contact us if you would like further information.
This monument includes a multi span bridge situated in the Avon valley across the river midway between its confluences with the River Frome and the How Brook. The bridge has medieval origins and replaced an earlier medieval ford and survives as a fully standing Bath stone built structure with four segmental arches with keystones and prominent early piers and cutwaters. The bridge was subject to modernisation, repair and widening in 1930 and 1964 and is still is use as a busy road bridge.
National Grid Reference: ST 78236 61245
The above map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. For a copy of the full scale map, please see the attached PDF - 1005641 .pdf
The PDF will be generated from our live systems and may take a few minutes to download depending on how busy our servers are. We apologise for this delay.
This copy shows the entry on 16-Dec-2017 at 09:23:28.
End of official listing