The Hockenhull Platts are three bridges southwest of the village of

Tarvin Tarvin is a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It had a population of 2,693 people at the 2001 UK census, rising to 2,728 at the 2011 Census, and the ward covers about . ...

, Cheshire, England. They are also known as the "

Packhorse Bridges 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 ...

" or (erroneously) the "Roman Bridges", and are 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 designated Grade II

listed buildings 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 ...

. The bridges are situated where Platts Lane crosses the

River Gowy The River Gowy is a river in Cheshire, England, a tributary of the River Mersey. It rises in western Cheshire in the hills near Peckforton Castle, very close to the source of the River Weaver. While the Weaver flows south initially, the Gowy ...

. An area of west of the Gowy, including the westernmost bridge, forms Hockenhull Platts Nature Reserve, managed by the

Cheshire Wildlife Trust The Cheshire Wildlife Trust (CWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Cheshire and parts of the counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside, England. The trust's chairman is Bill Stothart. It manages 43 nature reserves totalling over 470 ...

Etymology

Although the bridges are in England, they are not far from the Welsh border and it is likely that their name is derived from a combination of English and Welsh

roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

. ''Platt'' is an

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

word for "bridge" and is associated with "plank". "Hock" may come from the Welsh ''hocan'' which means to

peddle A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used fo ...

or to sell abroad. ''Hen'' is Welsh for "old" and ''heol'' means a paved way or road. It is therefore possible that Hockenhull Platts means "the bridges on the old peddlars' way".Bowerman, p.42.

History

Platts Lane originally formed part of the

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 ...

road from London to Holyhead.Bowerman, p.39. In 1353 when

Edward, the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...

, crossed the bridges, he ordered that 20 shillings should be spent on their repair.Bowerman, p.41. In the 17th century the surface of the road was disintegrating so badly that posts were set into the road to prevent the passage of carts, and it could be used only by pedestrians and horses. Goods were carried by

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s of packhorses led by a driver (or jagger) walking in front. The pioneer female traveller

Celia Fiennes Celia Fiennes (7 June 1662 – 10 April 1741) was an English traveller and writer. She explored England on horseback at a time when travel for its own sake was unusual, especially for women. Early life Born at Newton Tony, Wiltshire,"June 7t ...

crossed the bridges in 1698, as did

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (14 June OS 172616 December 1798) was a Welsh naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales. As a naturalist he h ...

in 1780. The present bridges probably date from the latter part of the 18th century. In 1824

Cheshire County Council Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East. ...

proposed to divert the road from

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

to Chester and make it pass along Platts Lane, which would have led to the destruction of the bridges. However the land on which they stood belonged to the

Marquess of Westminster A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

, and he refused permission for the road to be diverted.

Present day

Hockenhull Platts consists of three

humpback bridge A humpback bridge (or hump bridge) is a name for a type of bridge, specifically an arch bridge, where the span is higher than the ramps on either side, forming a hump-like arrangement. Examples include Chinese and Japanese moon bridge A moon b ...

s which are approached and connected by causeways. The bridges are constructed from tooled blocks of red

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 ...

. The parapets are plain and are surmounted by chamfered

coping Coping refers to conscious strategies used to reduce unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviours and can be individual or social. Theories of coping Hundreds of coping strategies have been proposed in an attempt to ...

stones which are joined by iron

ties TIES may refer to: * TIES, Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science * TIES, The Interactive Encyclopedia System * TIES, Time Independent Escape Sequence * Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science The ''Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science' ...

. The carriageway is formed from a mixture of stone

setts A sett, also known as a block or Belgian block, is a broadly rectangular quarried stone used in paving roads and walkways. Formerly in widespread use, particularly on steeper streets because setts provided horses' hooves with better grip tha ...

and

cobbles Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

. The central bridge crosses the River Gowy. Formerly the three bridges and causeways were necessary because the whole area was too marshy to be crossed by any other means. However, in the 20th century a scheme was carried out to lower the water level of the whole of the River Gowy to prevent possible flooding of

Stanlow Refinery Stanlow Refinery is an oil refinery owned by Essar Energy in Ellesmere Port, North West England. Until 2011 it was owned by Shell UK. The refinery is situated on the south bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, which is used to transport seaborne o ...

, which is situated near the junction of the river with the

Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

. As a consequence, the marshes were drained and the footings of the central bridge were raised on a concrete

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

. The Baker Way

long-distance path A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

crosses the three bridges.

Nature reserve

The area to the west of the Gowy, including the westernmost bridge, has been converted into a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

which is managed by

in an agreement with Grosvenor (Eaton) Estates. The nature reserve covers an area of about and access is by permit only. The reserve includes a trail (the Mill Trail), and habitats include a poplar plantation, reedbed and species-rich wet meadows. The poplar plantation is sparse and its wet nature has created an unusual stand of

common reed ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall. Description ''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...

at the ground layer. The reserve is also rich in bird life, with over 64 species recorded, including three species of summer visiting warblers, including

sedge warbler The sedge warbler (''Acrocephalus schoenobaenus'') is an Old World warbler in the genus '' Acrocephalus''. It is a medium-sized warbler with a brown, streaked back and wings and a distinct pale supercilium. Sedge warblers are migratory, crossing ...

Otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weas ...

have been recorded along the banks of the Gowy.

Associated archaeological findings

Immediately to the south of the central bridge is an earthwork which is visible only when the sun is low. It consists of a low ditched rectangular mound and an adjacent ring ditch. It probably dates from the post-medieval period. The area is otherwise covered by irregular drainage channels. In the area of Hockenhull Platts but at an uncertain location, some time before 1940 a pair of prehistoric translucent worked

flints Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

were found, one white and the other grey.

References