The first Wearmouth Bridge was a bridge across the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...

in Sunderland, England and the second major bridge to be made from

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

. It was considered one of the wonders of the industrial age, and was described by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

as being 'a triumph of the new metallurgy and engineering ingenuity ..of superb elegance'.

Design

The bridge was instigated, sponsored and patented by Rowland Burdon, the Member of Parliament for

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, and built under the direction of Thomas Wilson, who designed its architectural features. It was the second iron bridge built after

The Iron Bridge The Iron Bridge is a cast iron arch bridge that crosses the River Severn in Shropshire, England. Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron. Its success inspired the widespread use of cast iron as a str ...

, but was over twice as long with a nominal span of , and only three-quarters the weight. Indeed, at the time of building, it was the biggest single-span bridge in the world (72 m), matching the collapsed Trezzo Bridge in Italy. The decision to use cast iron was strongly influenced by

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In ...

, who had constructed a demonstration cast iron span of comparable length in Paddington in 1789, and had submitted models and designs for Wearmouth.

Construction

The foundation stone was laid in September 1793. It is possible that two of the six main ribs used in the Wearmouth bridge, were created from the actual ribs used by Paine in his

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

, which had been returned to the Foundry in Rotherham where the ribs of both bridges were cast. The bridge was opened in 1796.

Impact

According to the plaque on the current bridge, its construction "proved to be a catalyst for the growth of Sunderland," since access between Monkwearmouth and

Bishopwearmouth Bishopwearmouth () is a former village and parish which now constitutes the west side of Sunderland City Centre, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, merging with the settlement as it expanded outwards in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is ...

had previously only been by ferry, with the nearest bridge at

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street () is a market town in County Durham, England. It is located around north of Durham and is close to Newcastle. The town holds markets on Saturdays. In 2021, the town had a population of 23,555. The town's history is ancient; ...

Operation

It opened to traffic on 9 August 1796, having cost a total of about £28,000. There was originally a toll for traffic and pedestrians, although tolls for pedestrians were abolished in 1846.

1805 repair

In 1805 the bridge had to be repaired after heat from the sun caused some of the cross tubes to fall out.

1857 reconstruction and 1927 demolition

From 1857 to 1859 it was reconstructed by

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

, who stripped the bridge back to its six iron ribs and levelled the roadway by raising the abutments. The bridge was reopened in March 1859, with the toll completely abolished in 1885. The bridge was replaced by the current Wearmouth Bridge, built 1927-1929 at the same location.

References

{{Thomas Paine Cast-iron arch bridges in England Bridges across the River Wear Bridges completed in 1796 1796 establishments in Great Britain