Tadcaster Bridge or Wharfe Bridge spans the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale. ...

Tadcaster Tadcaster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north-east of Leeds and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the lowest road crossing-point o ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. The road bridge is believed to date from around 1700. It is the main route connecting the two sides of the town and one of two road crossings in the town, the other being the bridge for the A64 bypass. Tadcaster Bridge partially collapsed on 29 December 2015 after flooding that followed Storm Eva, and reopened on 3 February 2017.

History

The first bridge is believed to have been constructed around 1200, using stone from Tadcaster Castle, and the current bridge was built around 1700. Each of its seven

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

has a

cutwater A cutwater is the forward part of the prow or stem of a watercraft around the waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. A waterline can also refer to any line on a ship's hull that is paralle ...

and arch supporting the roadway and

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

. Built of

Magnesian Limestone The Magnesian Limestone is a suite of carbonate rocks in north-east England dating from the Permian period. The outcrop stretches from Nottingham northwards through Yorkshire and into County Durham where it is exposed along the coast between Ha ...

, the bridge was widened in the 19th century on the upstream side. It was listed at Grade II on 12 July 1985. The bridge was temporarily closed after flooding in 2012.

Partial collapse and repair

Concerns for public safety led to the bridge closing to pedestrians and traffic on 26 December 2015. The town started to flood the same day as a result of heavy rainfall following Storm Eva, and on the evening of 29 December the bridge partially collapsed. It caused the gas main to fracture and prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Without use of the bridge, traffic could cross the river only via the A64, which required a long detour. Pedestrians could cross the river using the Tadcaster Viaduct. In early 2016,

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

carried out an assessment of the significance of the Grade-II listed bridge to inform its restoration, revealing that the bridge had been widened in 1791, expanding a structure built in 1698 that had replaced an earlier one. The bridge repair took thirteen months at a cost of £4.4 million. The provision of an adjacent temporary pedestrian footbridge was deemed essential. Following a refusal by Samuel Smith's Brewery to allow a temporary footbridge to be built on its land, an alternative site was found using land owned by Selby District Council and Tadcaster Town Council. Tadcaster Albion Football Club allowed access across its car park for people to reach the footbridge. The bridge reopened on 3 February 2017. The reconstruction work was funded jointly by the UK government, which contributed £3 million, and a

Local Enterprise Partnership In England, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) were voluntary partnerships between local authorities and businesses, set up in 2011 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to help determine local economic priorities and lead ec ...

which contributed £1.4 million.

References

External links

"Tadcaster Bridge, North Yorkshire: Investigation, history and significance"
– a report to

, February 2016 {{authority control 1700s establishments in England Bridges in North Yorkshire Collapsed buildings and structures in the United Kingdom Grade II listed bridges Grade II listed buildings in North Yorkshire River Wharfe Tadcaster

History

Partial collapse and repair

See also

References

External links