Hexham Bridge is a road bridge in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

linking

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

with the North Tyne valley. It lies north of the town of Hexham and is the main access to the A69 bypass.

History

The Tyne was crossed by two ferries called the east and the west boats ( Warden Bridge). As a result of persistent agitation, a bridge was started in 1767 and completed in 1770. It was built by Mr Galt and consisted of seven arches. Less than a year later it was swept away in the great Tyne flood of 1771. In that flood, eight bridges shared the fate of Hexham. In 1774 a new attempt was made to the west by Mr Wooler, an engineer who had been working on the new Newcastle bridge. Piles were sunk to carry the piers but work was abandoned on discovering that the "soil beneath the gravel was a quicksand with no more resistance than chaff". This first bridge, Hexham Old Bridge, was about upstream of the present bridge. The authorities next approached

John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent scholar, who introduced various ...

, whose name as an engineer was famous. Henry Errington of Sandhoe was given the contract for the sum of £4,700,Northumberland Archives:
Hexham Bridge Papers SANT/BEQ/1/4/1
/ref> and work started in 1777. Although the half-completed piers were washed away the following year, work continued and the new bridge was opened to traffic in 1780. The Newcastle Chronicle, Saturday 8th July 1780 had "Saturday last, the passage along the New Bridge over Tyne at Hexham wa« opened, the Most Noble Errington was the first that passed it, who made a handsome present to the workmen." However, on 10 March 1782, there was a heavy fall of snow followed by a violent hurricane. The valleys of the north and south Tyne were inundated and the nine arches were completely overturned. They are still visible and act as a sort of weir. Robert Mylne, a famous architect and engineer, was called in to report on the feasibility of rebuilding Smeaton's bridge. He was eventually given the contract to build a fourth bridge, and the work was completed in 1793. It is listed as a

Grade II* 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, H ...

building by Historic England.

References

{{River item box , River =

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

, upstream =

Constantius Bridge Constantius Bridge is a modern concrete bridge across the River Tyne about north west of Hexham, Northumberland, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the isl ...

, upsub = {{UK road, A69 , downstream = Corbridge Bridge , downsub = {{UK road, B6321 , type = road bridge , table = end , location = NY940646

External links

Memorial concerning Hexham Bridge
- Smeaton's paper on the failure of his bridge
The foundations of Hexham Bridge
- 1977 geotechnical paper on the failure of Smeaton's bridge Bridges completed in 1793 Bridges in Northumberland Crossings of the River Tyne Grade II* listed buildings in Northumberland Grade II* listed bridges in England 1793 establishments in England Hexham