A bridge chapel is a small place of Christian worship, built either on, or immediately adjacent to, a

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

; they were commonly established during pre-

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

era in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Although sometimes built on land at the very start of the bridge, bridge chapels were often built into the bridge structure itself, usually on one of the

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

s which had been made especially large for the purpose. These chapels were intended to minister to the spiritual needs of travellers passing over the bridge. Many were established as

chantries A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...

, where a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

was employed to say

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

es for passers by and for the repose of the souls of the bridge's benefactors. In some instances, the priest would be responsible for collecting tolls from bridge users.Cook, Martin (1998
''Medieval Bridges''
, Shire Publications Ltd, (pp. 38-42) The cost of maintaining a priest or chaplain could be very high, so some less well endowed bridges had a resident

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

, whose duties, including collecting tolls and working on repairs, were regarded as acts of religious devotion. In

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the end of these institutions came with the

, when the Abolition of Chantries Acts, 1545 and 1547 led either to their demolition or to their conversion to secular use.

Some notable examples

Chantry Chapel of Our Lady and Rotherham Bridge (geograph 2250176)

* Pont Saint-Bénézet, Avignon, France, Chapel of Saint Nicholas; 12th century, restored from 1878 * The Town Bridge,

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...

, England, a medieval chapel later rebuilt as a lock up *

Old Exe Bridge The Old Exe Bridge is a ruined medieval arch bridge in Exeter in south west England. Construction of the bridge began in 1190, and was completed by 1214. The bridge is the oldest surviving bridge of its size in England and the oldest bridge in ...

, Exeter, England, St Edmund on the Bridge; built c. 1200, rebuilt 1833 and demolished 1973 except the medieval tower. * St Mary's Bridge Chapel,

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, England; late 13th century, restored in 1930 as a place of worship *

Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden is a wooden pedestrian bridge between the city of Rapperswil and the village of Hurden crossing the upper Lake Zürich (''Obersee'') in Switzerland. The prehistoric timber piles discovered to the west of the Seedam ...

, Switzerland, Heilig Hüsli; 15th century but rebuilt in stone in 1551 *

Krämerbrücke The Krämerbrücke (; Merchants' bridge) is a medieval arch bridge in the city of Erfurt, in Thuringia, central Germany, which is lined with half-timbered shops and houses on both sides of a cobblestone street. It is one of the few remaining bri ...

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

, Germany, the Churches of St. Benedicti and St. Aegidien; the former was demolished in 1810 *

High Bridge, Lincoln High Bridge carries the High Street across the River Witham in Lincoln in eastern England. It is the oldest bridge in the United Kingdom which still has buildings on it. The bridge was built about 1160 AD and a bridge chapel was built dedica ...

, England, Chapel of St Thomas Becket; built 1235 and demolished 1762 * "Old" London Bridge, England, Chapel of St Thomas on the Bridge, completed 1209, rebuilt as a grocer's shop in 1553, upper story demolished in 1747, bridge demolished in 1832 * Rochester Bridge Chapel, England: built in 1393, later a storeroom, private house, pub and shop. Restored in 1937 as a place of worship. * Rotherham Bridge, England, the Chapel of Our Lady of Rotherham Bridge; built in 1483 and restored in 1927 * St Ives Bridge, England, the Chapel of St Leger; completed in 1426 and restored in 1930 * Chantry Bridge,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, England, the Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin; completed in 1356 and restored in 1842

References

{{reflist Chapels Bridges

Some notable examples

See also

References