Whitby Swing Bridge is a pedestrian and road bridge over the River Esk in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

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.

History

The River Esk has been crossed by bridges at this location for centuries. A grant made by

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

in 1351 allowed the collection of pontage tolls for the maintenance of a bridge. By the mid 1550s the tolls averaged around £6 per annum (equivalent to £ as of ). In 1629 an agreement was made by the justices in the North Riding to replace a wooden bridge with one which included moving parts. This was later replaced by a drawbridge, built in 1766 at a cost of £3,000 (), and later in 1835, the first

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

was opened designed by Francis Pickernell.

Current bridge

By the early 20th century the limited clearance of the 1835 bridge was restricting the size of vessels which could be built upstream of the bridge. A replacement swing bridge was commissioned by Whitby Urban District Council. It was designed by J. Mitchell Moncrieff,The Electrical review: Volume 69. 1911 later President of the

Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a British professional body for structural engineers. In 2021, it had 29,900 members operating in 112 countries. It provides professional accreditation and publishes a magazine, '' The Structural Eng ...

. As work progressed on the west side of the river bank to set a pivot for the bridge to swing, a seam of coal thick was struck at below the water level. The foundations had to be sunk to a depth of below the low water mark for a secure foundation. It was opened in July 1909 by Mabel Theresa Duncombe, the daughter of the Viscount of Helmsley and the wife of local MP, Sir Gervase Beckett. The bridge consists of two leaves moved independently by electric motors. The bridge originally carried the A171 road. To avoid congestion in the town centre, the road was diverted to a high level bridge over the Esk Valley built in 1980. The bridge is not wide enough for vehicles to pass, so vehicular access to the bridge is controlled by traffic lights. The bridge is opened to shipping either side of high tide, but is quickly closed again to allow for traffic movement. Until 2011 the bridge had a weight limit of . This was reduced to in 2011 by

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the ...

. In 2023 it was announced that the local council would be closing the bridge to traffic, with the exception of buses, during peak times in spring and summer. This was said to be to "address safety concerns around overcrowding".

References

{{Road bridges in Yorkshire Bridges in North Yorkshire Bridges completed in 1909 Swing bridges in England Former toll bridges in England 1909 establishments in England

History

Current bridge

See also

References