Kerne Bridge is a hamlet in south

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, England, about south of the market town of

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, near the border with Wales. It had a population estimated at 10,978 in 2021. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the River Wye and on the northern edge of the Fore ...

on the B4234

to Coleford road adjacent to Bishopswood. Situated on the left bank of the River Wye, it takes its modern name from the nineteenth century bridge over the river. It was once a significant stop on the now disused and abandoned Monmouth to Ross-on-Wye railway, and is now known for a popular canoe-launching site. It marks the northern start of the Upper Wye Gorge and is situated in the heart of the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

History

The history of the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

began when a primitive manually operated mill for grinding corn came to be established there. This type of mill was known in Old English as a ''cweorn''. The presence of the mill gave the name - The Cweorn - to the small

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), downward movement of a structure's foundation *Settlement (finance), where securities are delivered against payment of money *Settlement (litigatio ...

which began to be built up around the mill. Over time the spelling of the name of the settlement was simplified to The Quern. Records show that it was still known that way until at least 1815, but by the mid-1820s spelling simplification had further altered its name to The Kerne.''An Act for building a Bridge over the River'' Wye'', at a Place called'' The Kerne ..., Anno Sexto, Georgii IV. Regis, Houses of Parliament, London, 20 May 1825 It later became known as Kerne Bridge when the bridge over the River Wye was built at the hamlet in 1828.

Railway

In 1873, the Ross and Monmouth Railway line from Ross-on-Wye station to Monmouth Troy was built. It crossed the River Wye at Kerne Bridge on a single-track

skew bridge A skew arch (also known as an oblique arch) is a method of construction that enables an arch bridge to span an obstacle at some angle other than a right angle. This results in the faces of the arch not being perpendicular to its abutments and it ...

constructed of plate girders. The single-track bridge was built by Edward Finch of

Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...

and was long. Kerne Bridge railway station was the first initially station after leaving

, though Walford Halt at

Walford Walford is a fictional borough of East London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location wor ...

was built later between them. The station closed in 1959 when passenger service on the line was withdrawn. Goods services continued to run until 1964, when the bridge was demolished, leaving the masonry abutments. Nearby is
picnic place
and

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

launch site based at the site of the bridge. The station building, after many years as an outdoor activity centre, is now a private house. On the other side of the river is

Flanesford Priory Flanesford Priory was an Augustinian priory in Herefordshire, England. Richard Talbot, 2nd Baron Talbot, Sir Richard Talbot, then owner of nearby Goodrich Castle, founded the priory in 1346 as a house of the Augustinian Canons#Canons Regular, Ca ...

which is now holiday accommodation.

Governance

Due to its location in the geographical centre Kerne Bridge is the name of a local government ward o
Herefordshire Council
Kerne Bridge Ward contains five parishes, they are:

, Goodrich,

Whitchurch Whitchurch may refer to: Places Canada *Whitchurch, Ontario, since 1971 part of Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario England *Whitchurch, Bristol *Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire *Whitchurch, Devon, in Tavistock **Whitchurch, Devon (parish), a civil ...

Welsh Bicknor Welsh Bicknor () is an area in the far south of the English county of Herefordshire. Despite its name, it is not now in Wales, but it was historically a detached parish (exclave) of the county of Monmouthshire. It lies within a loop of the Riv ...

and

Ganarew Ganarew (from Welsh: ''Genau'r Rhiw''; 'Gana-rhiw', and 'Gan y rew') is a village and small civil parish in south Herefordshire, England near the River Wye and the border with Wales. The village is located southwest of the village of Whitch ...

References

External links

Photos of Kerne Bridge and surrounding area on geograph

{{authority control Hamlets in Herefordshire Bridges across the River Wye