The Old Castle Bridge in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

, England is a ruined

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 ...

bridge. The multi-arch stone bridge was built across the River Avon a short distance south-east of the centre of Warwick town and immediately upstream of the

Warwick Castle Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-an ...

weir. It is not clear exactly when the bridge was built, but references to it have been found from as early as 1208. By 1373 half the width of the bridge was said to be in ruins, and it was said to have been repaired by charitable means. The

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

of Warwick become responsible for its upkeep until 1545. It's likely that the bridge at one time included some form of barrier, to enable it to act as part of the town's defences. A new bridge was built upstream of the old one in the 18th century and in 1795 the old bridge was largely swept away by flood waters. The ruined remains of the old bridge include three complete arches standing in the middle of the river, and fragments on both banks, which are more extensive on the southern bank where the bridge apparently ended in a causeway. The bridge remains are protected by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

as a Grade II* listed structure.

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Buildings and structures in Warwick Grade II* listed buildings in Warwickshire Bridges in Warwickshire Grade II* listed ruins Ruins in Warwickshire {{England-hist-stub

See also

References

External links