Bridge Street, formerly known as Seven Bridges, is a historic street in the town of
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
in the English county of
Berkshire. It took its original name from the seven bridges that carried it over various channels of the
River Kennet
The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which â ...
, and was the earliest crossing place of that river in the town.
Bridge Street connects Southampton Street, formerly known as St Giles' Street, to the south, with
St Mary's Butts to the north.
History
It is thought that this location was chosen as a crossing point due to the shallow streams being easier to build upon, rather than the deeper water downstream at the point where
High Bridge is built or the
marshland
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
upstream.
When the importance of the crossing had increased it became known as ''Seven Bridges'' due to the number of bridges. Ordered from south to north, these streams were:
*St Giles’ Mill Stream, following the line of Mill Lane to St Giles' Mill.
* The current main stream, which was not always the main stream. Originally St Giles' Mill Stream carried most of the water.
* A flood relief channel, north of main stream.
* Another flood relief channel, north of previous one.
* Grey's Lock Stream, also known as Simonds Ditch. This was part of a network of small streams which were once navigable by small boats.
* Minster Mill Stream, originally carried water to the Minster Mill, which may have dated from the Saxon period.
*
Holy Brook, built to drive the
Abbey Mill and to drain the toilets of the
Abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The con ...
.
Up until the end of the 17th century, the head of navigation of the River Kennet was in the vicinity of High Bridge, downstream of Seven Bridges. However between 1718 and 1723, the Kennet was made navigable upstream to
Newbury, and as part of this work
County Lock was constructed in the main channel just upstream of the bridges. Despite this work, the section of the main channel downstream of the bridge remained a difficult and narrow navigation, and came to be known as
Brewery Gut.
In 1790
Simonds' Brewery moved to a new
brewhouse
A brewhouse is a building made for brewing beer and ale. This could be a part of a specialized brewery operation, but historically a brewhouse is a private building only meant for domestic production.
Larger households, such as noble estates, o ...
at Seven Bridges. Over time the brewery expanded, coming to occupy large quantities of land alongside the river on both sides of Bridge Street.
Today
Simond's Brewery, which had by then become Courage's Brewery, moved out of Bridge Street in 1978. The western part of its site is now occupied by residential developments, whilst the eastern section of its site is now occupied by part of the large
Oracle shopping centre. The extant Seven Bridges House, adjoining the main site, was not originally part of the brewery but was eventually taken over by them and used as offices and a social club. Other than this, and some buildings flanking the junction with St Mary's Butts, all the buildings fronting the street now date from the late 20th century.
Today little can be seen of most of the channels that gave the street its original name. The main channel is still clearly visible to both sides of the street, with the Brewery Gut now flowing through the centre of the Oracle shopping centre. St Giles' Mill Stream can still be seen by County Lock, where it leaves the main stream and flows underground before rejoining in the Oracle. The Holy Brook still exists; whilst much of it is underground, exposed sections can be found near the St Mary's Butts end of Bridge Street.
File:The bridge on Bridge Street - geograph.org.uk - 1636279.jpg, The current bridge over the main channel of the Kennet
File:Severn Bridges House, Reading.jpg, Seven Bridges House, the only remnant on Bridge Street of Simonds' Brewery
File:Zero degrees, Bridge Street - geograph.org.uk - 1329481.jpg, The Zero Degrees brew-pub on Bridge Street; the Holy Brook passes under the patch of grass to the right
References
External links
* {{commons category-inline, Bridge Street, Reading
Streets in Reading, Berkshire
Bridges in Reading, Berkshire
History of Reading, Berkshire
Kennet and Avon Canal