The old Leckwith road bridge crossing the River Ely - Cardiff - geograph

Leckwith Bridge, can refer to the medieval Grade II*

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

stone bridge over the

river Ely The River Ely ( cy, Afon Elái) is in South Wales flowing generally southeast, from Tonyrefail to Cardiff. The river is about long. The Ely's numerous sources lie in the mountains to the south of Tonypandy, near the town of Tonyrefail, ris ...

Leckwith Leckwith ( cy, Lecwydd) is a small village in the Vale of Glamorgan, just west of Cardiff. Historically, the parish of Leckwith also included land on the east side of the river Ely that is now part of Cardiff itself. This area is also commonly kn ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, or its 20th century replacement.

Old bridge

The old Leckwith Bridge dates from at least the early 16th century, referred to in 1536 as being "soundly built of stone". It was probably partially rebuilt in the 17th century and the central arch being rebuilt during the 18th century. The bridge has three arches built of rubblestone. The roadway is approximately 2.75m (9 feet) in width, with the addition of pedestrian refuges above pointed cutwaters between each arch. The bridge was listed as Grade II* in 1952, being an example of "a fine and rare medieval bridge". It is also designated as a scheduled monument The bridge remains in use today for goods vehicles accessing the adjacent builders' yards.

New bridge

A new single span

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

bridge was built next door to the old bridge in 1935, taking the main road between Cardiff and Leckwith village. It was opened on 17 April by the Minister of Transport,

Leslie Hore-Belisha Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha, PC (; 7 September 1893 – 16 February 1957) was a British Liberal, then National Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) and Cabinet Minister. He later joined the Conservative Party. He proved highly su ...

. The road continues west on a 150m (500 feet) concrete viaduct. By the 2010s the new bridge was in poor condition with weight restrictions imposed on it.

References

{{coord, 51.4699, -3.2119, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Bridges in Cardiff Bridges in the Vale of Glamorgan Grade II* listed bridges in Wales Scheduled monuments in Cardiff Road bridges in Wales Stone bridges in the United Kingdom

Old bridge

New bridge

See also

References