Cricklade Town Bridge is a road bridge at

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England across the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

Formerly the bridge marked the ultimate limit of navigation on the River Thames, but the stretch of the river beyond

Lechlade Lechlade () is a town at the edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, south of Birmingham and west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that continues sout ...

has fallen into disuse and the bridge can only be reached by very small craft. The bridge is single arch

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

at the north end of the town. It was built in 1854, there being no previous bridge on the site. The original Cricklade crossing was probably closer to the A419 Bridge where it carried

Ermin Way Ermin Street or Ermin Way was a Roman road in Britain. It linked Glevum (Gloucester) and Corinium (Cirencester) to Calleva ( Silchester). At Glevum it connected to the road to Isca (Caerleon), the legionary base in southeast Wales. At Cori ...

. This road was at some time obliterated at the bend north of the bridge, and a road was deflected from it

due south ''Due South'' is a Canadian crime comedy-drama television series created by Paul Haggis, and produced by Alliance Communications from its premiere on April 23, 1994, to its conclusion after four seasons on March 14, 1999. The series starred P ...

through the town.Fred. S Thacker ''The Stripling Thames '' 1909 The

River Churn The River Churn is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises at Seven Springs, Gloucestershire, Seven Springs in Gloucestershire and flows south for approximately to meet the Thames at Cricklade in Wiltshire. Its length from ...

joins the Thames just downstream of the bridge.

Architecture

The bridge is built of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. On each side of the bridge near the parapet are panels recording its construction. It has a single arch over the Thames with a smaller northern arch which crosses the site of an earlier mill leat.

References

{{S-end Bridges across the River Thames Bridges in Wiltshire Bridges completed in 1852 1852 establishments in England

History

Architecture

See also

References