Lady's Bridge is the oldest bridge across the River Don in the

City of Sheffield The City of Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Sheffield, the town of Stocksbridge and larger village of Chapeltown and part of the Peak D ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is located in the central section of the city, linking the

Wicker Wicker is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. It was first documented in ancient Egypt using pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. ...

to the north with Waingate to the south.

History

The first bridge

The original wooden bridge at this point was constructed close to Sheffield Castle sometime after 1150 under the orders of

William de Lovetot William de Lovetot, Lord of Hallamshire, possibly descended from the Norman Baron Ricardus Surdus,* (wikisource) was an Anglo-Norman Baron from Huntingdonshire, often credited as the founder of Sheffield, England. It is unknown when de Lovetot ...

, the Norman baron who had also built the castle along with the town's first

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Ch ...

, hospital (at Spital Hill), and corn mill (at Millsands).

Lady's Bridge

In 1485 the Vicar of Sheffield, Sir John Plesaunce, and William Hill, who was a master mason, both agreed to build a bridge of stone "over the watyr of Dune neghe the castell of Sheffeld" at a cost of about £67. The bridge had five arches, and was wide.Five Weirs Walk, Interpretation panels near bridge A small chapel, dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

, was built close to the bridge, and the bridge became known as 'Our Lady's Bridge'. When built it could only be crossed by pedestrians as there were steps at either end of the bridge. The chapel was converted for use as a wool warehouse in 1547, to prevent its demolition as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

, and was subsequently used as an Alms house.

Modifications

In 1760 the bridge was widened on the upstream side, and the Alms House (formerly the chapel to Our Lady) was demolished to make way for the new structure. The bridge was widened on the downstream side in 1864, virtually obscuring the remaining original structure from view, and again in 1909, to allow trams to cross the bridge. It was restored in the late 20th century, and has been a Grade II listed structure since 1973.

The Great Sheffield Flood

On the night of 11 March 1864 Lady's Bridge narrowly avoided destruction when the waters of the

Great Sheffield Flood The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke as its reservoir was being filled for the first time. At least 240 people died and more than 600 houses were ...

poured over it. Nearly every other bridge upstream in the path of the flood had been smashed by the waters and the debris that they carried. A contemporary account described the scene:

2007 flooding

During the

2007 United Kingdom floods A series of large floods occurred in parts of the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007. The worst of the flooding occurred across Scotland on 14 June; East Yorkshire and the Midlands on 15 June; Yorkshire, the Midlands, Gloucestershire, ...

, Sheffield was badly hit, and Lady's Bridge and

the Wicker The Wicker is an arterial street in Sheffield, England noted for its history and viaduct that crosses it, the Grade II* listed '' Wicker Arches''. It runs in a north-east to south-westerly direction between Lady's Bridge and the Wicker Arche ...

in particular. Lady's Bridge was overwhelmed with water as it, the Wicker and the Blonk Street Bridge were flooded, and Lady's Bridge itself was at one point reported to be in danger of collapse.

Bibliography

* (

wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually ...

) *

References

{{SheffieldStructures Bridges completed in 1485 Bridges completed in the 12th century Bridges in Sheffield Bridges over the River Don, South Yorkshire Grade II listed buildings in Sheffield Grade II listed bridges