Terras Bridge, also known as Terras Pill Bridge, is a road bridge near Morval in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

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 ...

. Built in , the

Grade II listed 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 ...

bridge crosses the tidal East Looe River, and is adjacent to the Liskeard and Looe Railway and the remains of the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal.

Description

Built in , the stone bridge carries an unclassified road over the East Looe River at Terras Pill, between the

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of Morval and Duloe. As well as the main span across the river channel, the bridge has a second small

flood arch A flood arch is a small supplemental arch bridge provided alongside a main bridge. It provides extra capacity for floodwater. The space beneath a flood arch is normally dry and often carries a towpath or similar. In some cases it borders on the sh ...

. The main bridge arch was navigable, maintaining the river's

navigability A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Navigability is also referred to in the broader context of a body of water having sufficient under ...

Sandplace Sandplace () is a small village in the parish of Morval, Cornwall, Morval, located two miles north of Looe in Cornwall, Great Britain. It is situated on the B3254, the old Liskeard to Looe road which connects the A387 to the south. The village lie ...

. Downstream of the bridge, the only crossing of the river is

Looe Bridge Looe Bridge is a bridge in Looe, Cornwall, across the River Looe. Built in the 1850s to replace a dangerous 15th-century structure, the bridge carries the A387 road and is a Grade II listed building. History Early crossing (c. 1400–1405 ...

. At the north side of the bridge, the road continues on 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 ...

over

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...

s and saltings. The East Looe River is tidal as far as Tregarland Bridge – a little over upstream of Terras Bridge – and so flooding of the causeway is not uncommon. At the north end of the causeway crosses the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal by another stone arch. The canal was approved by Parliament the same year the bridge opened, and began operation in 1827. A short distance upstream of the bridge was the canal's first

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

which acted as a tidal barrier. In 1985, Terras Bridge was made a

structure.

Level crossing

In 1853 the Liskeard and Looe Railway was built on the bank separating the river and canal. The railway line crosses the bridge's roadway at an open level crossing. The railway is now operated as the

Looe Valley Line The Looe Valley Line is an community railway from Liskeard railway station, Liskeard to Looe railway station, Looe in Cornwall, England, that follows the valley of the River Looe, East Looe River for much of its course. It is operated by Great ...

, and trains approaching the crossing are obliged to halt and sound their whistle before proceeding across the road subject to a speed limit. , the crossing was one of 62 open level crossings listed by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

, and is one of three such crossings on the Looe Valley Line. Open crossings account for approximately of the 6,180 level crossings operated or maintained by Network Rail.

Footnotes

References

{{Cornwall, state=collapsed Bridges in Cornwall Grade II listed buildings in Cornwall 1820s establishments in England Bridges completed in the 1820s Grade II listed bridges in England