Langstone Bridge (also known as Hayling Bridge) connects

Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island was later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st c ...

with the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

mainland of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. The name of the bridge is derived from its location at the coastal village of Langstone. Historically connection was by a causeway known as the Wadeway, this was severed by the construction of the

Portsmouth and Arundel Canal The Portsmouth and Arundel Canal was a canal in the south of England that ran between Portsmouth and Ford in the Arundel district, it was built in 1823 but was never a financial success and was abandoned in 1855; the company was wound up in 1888 ...

Wadeway

The Wadeway or Wade Way is an original and historic causeway to

, however it is now completely impassable, having been cut in two by a deep channel for the Portsmouth and Chichester Canal in the 1820s. and was classified as a bridleway in 1988, and is shown as such on modern Ordnance Survey map

in spite of its use being considered hazardous at best. Excavation of this feature in 2006, constructed on a natural high point in the harbour, put its date in the Roman to medieval range but found no evidence to be more specific.

Wooden Bridge

The Canal Company funded a replacement wooden road bridge served by a toll-house situated at the northern end. There was a weight-limit and after WW2 only single-decker buses were allowed across and if they were carrying too many passengers some had to get out and walk, regardless of the weather, to reduce axle-weight. The old wooden bridge was demolished following construction of a concrete bridge in the late 1950s.

The 1956 Bridge

A replacement concrete bridge opened in 1956, initially still as a toll bridge. The new bridge is owned by

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...

and was operated without tolls from April 1960. The construction work on the new bridge was carried out by ''Christiani and Nielsen''.

Railway Bridge

A railway bridge was constructed for the

Hayling Island branch line The Hayling Island branch was a short railway branch line in Hampshire, England, that connected a station on Hayling Island with the main line network at Havant. It was built by the Hayling Railway; at first the company planned to run it along ...

in the 1860s. This became disused after the railway's closure and the remains can be viewed to the west of the current bridge today

References

Bridges in Hampshire Former toll bridges in England Hayling Island {{UK-bridge-struct-stub