Bridgegate in
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...
, England, forms part of the
city walls
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
. It is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...
as a designated 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 ...
.
History
The
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
city walls were extended to the south in the 12th century with a wall parallel to the north bank of the
River Dee. This section of the wall incorporated the original Bridgegate which must have been built by the 1120s, as the office of sergeant of the gate was recorded in that decade. The gate guarded the southern entrance to the town; the road from North Wales ran through the gateway directly after crossing the Old Dee Bridge. It is possible that the gateway was rebuilt at the time the bridge was rebuilt in the later part of the 14th century.
Between 1521 and 1624 the bridge tolls were controlled by the Talbot family, the
Earls of Shrewsbury
Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...
, whose
town house
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
, now the
Bear and Billet, was nearby.
At the end of the 15th century the bridge consisted of a
Gothic arch with a tower on each side. In 1600–01 a square tower was added which contained machinery for lifting river water into the town. This was known as John Tyrer's Water Tower, after its builder, but the tower was destroyed in the siege of Chester in 1644–65. The present bridge was built in 1781 for Chester City Corporation, the architect being
Joseph Turner.
[
]
Architecture
Bridgegate is built in yellow sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
in neoclassical style and consists of a segmental arch over the carriageway with a round pedestrian archway in each abutment
An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining wall ...
. Along its top are balustraded parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Wh ...
s on each side of the footpath.[
]
See also
*Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire West and Chester
There are over 9,000 Grade I listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester
Cheshire West and Chester is a unitary authority with borough status in the ceremonial co ...
*Northgate, Chester
The Northgate is in Chester, Cheshire, England, where it carries the city walls footpath over Northgate Street (). It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
History
The present Nort ...
*Watergate, Chester
The Watergate is in Chester, Cheshire, England and spans the A548 road between Watergate Street and New Crane Street (). It forms part of the city walls and carries a footpath over the road. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for Eng ...
* Eastgate, Chester
References
External links
The Bridgegate on 'Chester: a Virtual Stroll Around the Walls'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chester, Bridgegate
Bridges in Cheshire
Bridgegate
Former toll bridges in England
Stone bridges in England
Town Gates in England
Grade I listed bridges
Grade I listed buildings in Chester
Grade I listed gates
Joseph Turner (architect) buildings
Neoclassical architecture in Cheshire
Stone arch bridges