Yarm Bridge is a

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 ...

masonry road bridge over the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

, connecting the towns of

Yarm Yarm-on-Tees, or simply Yarm, is a market town in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on a meander of the River Tees, extending south-east to the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven and south to the village of Kirklevington. A civil parish i ...

and

Egglescliffe Egglescliffe is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. Administratively it is located in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees. The civil parish is in the Teesdale with a population of 8,559 at the 2011 Census. In the 2021 census the ...

History

The main thoroughfare through the town of Yarm was historically West Street, which at the River Tees led to a ford. A "bridge of Yarum" is mentioned in 1228, with a bridge at the location seemingly in a bad condition, in 1305 when Edward I granted a 5 year toll to repair it. In 1400, Walter Skirlaw,

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

, ordered a replacement road bridge in stone. It originally consisted of 5 pointed arches, however in the modern day, only the three central arches remain. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

the northmost arch of the bridge was destroyed and was replaced by a draw bridge, to prevent parliamentary forces from attacking the controlling royalists. This span was not replaced until 1785. In 1771 a major flood on the Tees, along with others in the North-East, caused major damage to many of the river's bridges. Despite escaping the flood without damage, the small size of bridges span meant that the flow was unable to pass beneath and instead serious damage was caused to the town, with every house being underwater. Partly as a result of a desire to avoid this problem in future and a need to increase the bridge's capacity for traffic, it was decided, in 1803, to replace the bridge with an iron bridge. This bridge was built under the direction of Thomas Wilson. By 1805 the arches where erected. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the next year, the completed but unopened structure collapsed, and the stone bridge was instead doubled in width. Today it carries the

A67 road The A67 is a road in England that links Bowes in County Durham with Crathorne, North Yorkshire, Crathorne in North Yorkshire. The road from Middlesbrough to Darlington was previously the A66 road, the road also starts and ends on the A66. Rout ...

References

External links

Bridges on the Tyne
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Yarm Bridge , upstream =

Yarm Viaduct Yarm Viaduct is a railway viaduct carrying the railways above the town of Yarm in North Yorkshire, England. It crosses the River Tees which forms the boundary between North Yorkshire and County Durham. The railway runs between and , and was ope ...

, downstream = Preston Pipe Bridge
next road bridge Jubilee Bridge Crossings of the River Tees Bridges in North Yorkshire Grade II* listed buildings in North Yorkshire Yarm Grade II* listed buildings in County Durham