Bow Bridge is a 15th-century

packhorse bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low Parapet#Bridge ...

over the

River Brue The River Brue originates in the parish of Brewham in Somerset, England, and reaches the sea some west at Burnham-on-Sea. It originally took a different route from Glastonbury to the sea, but this was changed by Glastonbury Abbey in the twelft ...

in Plox,

Bruton Bruton ( ) is a market town, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, 10 ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. It has been designated as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, and

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. The bridge may have been built as a link between the former

Bruton Abbey Bruton Abbey in Bruton, Somerset was founded as a house of Augustinian canons in about 1127, and became an abbey in 1511, shortly before its dissolution in 1539. It was endowed with manors, churches and other properties in the area and also in ...

, and its courthouse in the High Street. On the parapet on the western side of the bridge the remains of a carved shield can still be seen. It had acquired the name Bow Bridge by 1707. The narrow bridge of three arches is wide. The main arch of the bridge is built from

chamfer A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...

ed blocks of dressed stone. The bridge was restored after floods on 12 July 1982.

References

External links

{{commons category inline, Bow Bridge, Bruton Bridges completed in the 15th century Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset Pedestrian bridges in England Scheduled monuments in South Somerset Bridges in Somerset Bruton Grade I listed bridges Packhorse bridges

See also

References

External links