Kates Bridge is a
landmark
A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances.
In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...
settlement on the
A15 road This is a list of roads designated A15. Entries are sorted in alphabetical order by name of country.
* A015 road (Argentina), a road connecting the junction with National Route 14 at La Criolla and the Salto Grande Dam access-road
* ''A15 road (Au ...
, in the parish of
Thurlby. It is approximately south from
Bourne, Lincolnshire
Bourne is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the eastern slopes of the limestone Kesteven Uplands and the western edge of the Fens, 11 miles (18 km) north-east of Stamford, 12 mile ...
, England. Today, Kates Bridge consists of little more than three bridges, a petrol filling station, tractor dealership, five houses, and a farm.
History
In the early 20th century, people from nearby villages found employment in the brickyard. Before then, it was the head of navigation on the
River Glen. Lying close to the A 15's junction with the modern
King Street is where the Roman road crossed the Glen. This was the only section of river bed with a solid rock bottom thus a safe point to ford before the bridge was built. The name comes from a time when fords were more commonplace than bridges. During the thirteenth century this area was passed between two bishops as 'Caterbrig'. However, the other side of the river was known by the Anglo-Saxon name,
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...
(public ford), a name retained in Thetford House. Because of this nomenclature, a Roman origin for the bridge is doubtful. The earliest known record of the bridge is shown on
Saxton's map of
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
, published in 1579.
In the 1820s,
John Loudon McAdam
John Loudon McAdam (23 September 1756 – 26 November 1836) was a Scottish civil engineer and road-builder. He invented a new process, "macadamisation", for building roads with a smooth hard surface, using controlled materials of m ...
was working on the turnpike here. It is unclear if he supervised the construction of the early nineteenth-century bridge which still crosses the River Glen on a single stone arch, now carrying the
Macmillan Way
The Macmillan Way is a long-distance footpath in England that links Boston, Lincolnshire to Abbotsbury in Dorset. The route's distance is . It is promoted to raise money for the charity Macmillan Cancer Relief.
The fully waymarked route foll ...
long-distance footpath. Kates Bridge no longer carries the road, which now crosses the river on a nearby structure built in the 1970s.
The site is at the edge of the drainage area of the Welland and Deeping
Internal Drainage Board
An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management withi ...
.
References
External links
*
Hamlets in Lincolnshire
South Kesteven District
{{Lincolnshire-geo-stub