The Old Dee Bridge in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England, is the oldest bridge in the city. It crosses the River Dee carrying the road that leads from the bottom of Lower Bridge Street and the Bridgegate to

Handbridge Handbridge is a district of Chester, England on the south bank of the River Dee. A settlement has existed on the site since the Iron Age , but the site saw major expansion during the collapse of the Roman occupation of Britain, as the city grew ...

. A bridge on this site was first built in the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

era, and the present bridge is largely the result of a major rebuilding in 1387. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated Grade I

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 ...

, and is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

History

The original bridge was built for the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and probably had stone

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

carrying a timber carriageway. This seems to have disappeared by the 10th century, as in the reign of Queen

Æthelflæd Æthelflæd ( – 12 June 918) ruled as Lady of the Mercians in the English Midlands from 911 until her death in 918. She was the eldest child of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and his wife Ealhswith. Æthelflæd ...

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

(AD 911–918) there was only a ferry. A bridge had been built by 1086, when the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

records that the Provost of

Chester Castle Chester Castle is in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It is sited at the southwest extremity of the area bounded by the city walls. The castle stands on an eminence overlooking the River Dee. In the castle complex are the remaining par ...

could summon a man from every

hide Hide or hides may refer to: Common uses * Hide (skin), the cured skin of an animal * Bird hide, a structure for observing birds and other wildlife without causing disturbance * Gamekeeper's hide or hunting hide or hunting blind, a structure to hi ...

of land in Cheshire to rebuild Chester's walls and bridge. The bridge was reached by a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

, which according to a manuscript in the

Harleian Collection The Harleian Library, Harley Collection, Harleian Collection and other variants () is one of the main "closed" collections (namely, historic collections to which new material is no longer added) of the British Library in London, formerly the libra ...

was built for

Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. Early life and career Hugh d'A ...

(died 1101) along with

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

s on the Dee at that point. The bridge was repaired in the next two centuries but in 1279–80 the timber superstructure was swept away. Further repairs were made by Sir Thomas de Ferrers, Justice of Chester in about 1347–49 and by Stephen de Merton in the 1350s. In 1357

Edward, the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II of England, Richard II, succession to the Br ...

ordered the mayor and citizens of Chester to make:

''...with all speed their part of the bridge of Dee... in the same manner and style as the remainder of the bridge which has been newly made.''

It is likely that this rebuilding resulted in the bridge that exists today. In 1367 the citizens of Chester were granted

murage Muragh or murage was a medieval tax levied in Britain and Ireland for the construction or maintenance of town walls. The term derived from Old French, ultimately from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

(the toll for repair of the town walls) but all profits went ''"to the fabric and for the repair of the bridge"''. In December 1388 a grant of

pontage Pontage was a toll levied for the building or repair of bridges dating to the medieval era in England, Wales and Ireland. Pontage was similar in nature to murage (a toll for the building of town walls) and pavage (a toll for paving streets a ...

was made to the "mayor, bailiffs and good men of Chester" for a period of three years. Old Dee Bridge from DownStream 4

The bridge is built in local red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. It has seven arches, all of which are of different dimensions. The two northernmost arches formerly spanned the

leat A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Othe ...

leading to the mills. The southernmost arch replaced the medieval

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

. A tower was built on the bridge between 1399 and 1407, as part of the city's defences. In 1407 a

moiety Moiety may refer to: __NOTOC__ Anthropology * Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is divided ** A division of society in the Iroquois societal structure in North America ** An Australian Aboriginal kinship group ** Native Ha ...

(''i.e.'' half) of the murage was allowed to complete the tower

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

on the bridge. The gatehouse was demolished in 1781. In 1825–26 the bridge was widened by Thomas Harrison to provide a footway on the upstream side. Around this time it was decided that it was becoming inadequate for the expected traffic and it was decided to build an additional bridge to link the city with North Wales. The result was the

Grosvenor Bridge Grosvenor Bridge, originally known as, and alternatively called Victoria Railway Bridge, is a railway bridge over the River Thames in London, between Vauxhall Bridge and Chelsea Bridge. Originally constructed in 1860, and widened in 1865 and ...

, designed by Thomas Harrison and officially opened in 1832 although it was not finished for traffic to cross it until 1 January 1834.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Images at geograph
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place = River Dee , bridge = Old Dee Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream = Queens Park Bridge , upstream signs = , downstream =

Grosvenor Bridge (Chester) The Grosvenor Bridge is a single-span stone arch road bridge crossing the River Dee at Chester, England. Located on the A483 Grosvenor Road (), it was designed by Thomas Harrison and opened by Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld on 17 Oc ...

, downstream signs = Buildings and structures completed in 1387 Bridges in Cheshire Buildings and structures in Chester Grade I listed bridges Grade I listed buildings in Chester Bridges across the River Dee, Wales Scheduled monuments in Cheshire Thomas Harrison buildings Arch bridges in the United Kingdom Bridges completed in the 14th century Former toll bridges in England

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links