Pulteney Bridge is a bridge over the
River Avon in
Bath, England. It was completed by 1774, and connected the city with the land of the Pulteney family which it wished to develop. Designed by
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...
in a
Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
style, it is highly unusual in that it has shops built across its full span on both sides. It has been designated as a Grade I
listed building
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 ...
.
Within 20 years of its construction, alterations were made that expanded the shops and changed the façades. By the end of the 18th century, it had been damaged by floods, but was rebuilt to a similar design. Over the next century alterations to the shops included
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
ed extensions on the bridge's north face. In the 20th century, several schemes were carried out to preserve the bridge and partially return it to its original appearance, enhancing its appeal as a tourist attraction.
The bridge is now long and wide. Although there have been plans to pedestrianise the bridge, it is still used by buses and taxis. The much photographed bridge and
weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
below are close to the centre of the city, a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, renowned for its Georgian architecture.
Background
The bridge is named after Frances Pulteney, wife of
William Johnstone. He was a wealthy
Scottish lawyer and
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
. Frances was the third daughter of MP and government official
Daniel Pulteney (1684–1731) and first cousin once removed of
William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath
William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, (22 March 16847 July 1764) was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1707 to 1742, when he was created the first Earl of Bath by King George II.
Bath is sometimes stated to have be ...
. She inherited the Earl's substantial fortune and estates close to
Bath in
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
after his death in 1764 and that of his
younger brother
Younger Brother is an electronic duo formed in 2003 by Simon Posford and Benji Vaughan. Their debut album '' A Flock of Bleeps'' was released in 2003, followed by '' The Last Days of Gravity'' in 2007 and ''Vaccine'' in 2011.
After making a ...
and heir in 1767, and the Johnstones changed their surname to Pulteney. The rural
Bathwick
Bathwick is an electoral ward in the City of Bath, England, on the opposite bank of the River Avon to the historic city centre.
Bathwick was part of the hundred of Bath Forum.
The district became part of the Bath urban area with the 18th centu ...
estate, which Frances and William inherited in 1767, was across the river from the city and could only be reached by ferry. William made plans to create a new town, which would become a suburb to the historic city of Bath, but first he needed a better river crossing.
The work of the Pulteneys is memorialised by
Great Pulteney Street
Great Pulteney Street is a grand thoroughfare that connects Bathwick on the east of the River Avon with the City of Bath, England via the Robert Adam designed Pulteney Bridge. Viewed from the city side of the bridge the road leads directly to t ...
in Bathwick, and
Henrietta Street and
Laura Place, named after their daughter Henrietta Laura Johnstone.
Design and construction
![Malton Pulteney Bridge 1785](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Malton_Pulteney_Bridge_1785.JPG)
Pultney Bridge was designed by
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...
,
Whose original drawings are preserved in the
Sir John Soane's Museum
Sir John Soane's Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of neo-classical architect, John Soane. It holds many drawings and architectural models of Soane's projects, and ...
in London.
It is one of only four bridges in the world to have shops across its full span on both sides (the others being in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
,
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
, and
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
, Germany).
Initial plans for the bridge were drawn up by
Thomas Paty, who estimated it would cost £4,569 to build, but that did not include the shops.
A second estimate of £2,389 was obtained from local builders John Lowther and Richard Reed; it included two shops at each end of the bridge, but work did not begin before winter weather made construction of the pillars impossible. In 1770 the brothers
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
and
James Adam, who were working on designs for the new town at Bathwick, adapted Paty's original design.
Robert Adam envisaged an elegant structure lined with shops, similar to the
Ponte Vecchio
The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge", ) is a Middle Ages, medieval stone closed-spandrel Circular segment, segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, Florence, Italy. The only bridge in Florence spared from destruction during the ...
and the
Ponte di Rialto he would likely have seen when he visited
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
and
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
. Adam's design more closely followed
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of ...
's rejected design for the Rialto.
The revised bridge was wide, rather than the width envisaged by Paty, which overcame the objections of the local council about the bridge being too narrow.
Construction started in 1769 and was completed by 1774 at a cost of £11,000.
The builders for the lower part of the bridge were local masons Reed and Lowther; the shops were constructed by Singers and Lankeshere.
Development
Pulteney Bridge stood for less than 20 years in the form that Adam created. In 1792 alterations were made during which the bridge was widened to and the shops enlarged, converting the original sixteen shops into six larger ones.
[ Floods in 1799 and 1800 wrecked the north side of the bridge, which had been constructed with inadequate support. A temporary bridge was erected, and repairs were completed in 1804.] Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scot ...
suggested replacing the bridge with a single span cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
bridge. However it was rebuilt by John Pinch senior, surveyor to the Pulteney estate, in a less ambitious version of Adam's design. Nineteenth-century shopkeepers changed the structure and appearance of their premises by changing windows, or expanding them by adding cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
s over the river. Some painted advertisements on the outside of their shops, affecting the view from the river and Grand Parade.[ The western end pavilion on the south side was demolished in 1903 for road widening and its replacement was not an exact match.]
In 1936 the bridge was designated an ancient monument
In British law, an ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument (e.g. an archaeological site) worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. The ''Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 ...
. The city council bought several of the shops and made plans for the restoration of the original façade,[ which was completed in time for the ]Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people:
...
in 1951.[ The status of the bridge as an ancient monument was replaced in 1955 with its designation as a Grade I ]listed building
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 ...
. Further work was carried out in the 1960s to repair the underside soffit
A soffit is an exterior or interior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of any construction element. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of beams, is the underside of eaves (t ...
s of all three arches. More restoration of the southern street facade was needed in 1975.
In 2009 Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority district in England. Bath and North East Somerset Council was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the county of Avon. It is part of the Cer ...
council put forward a proposal to close the bridge to motor traffic and convert it to a pedestrianised zone, but the plan was abandoned in September 2011. It however remains a large source of income for the council, due to it being the most fined bus lane in the city.
Architecture
The bridge features a narrow street flanked by two full length rows of shops designed in the Palladian style c. 1770. All sit above three segmental arches
An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it.
Arches may be synonymous with vault ...
of equal span. The shops on the north side have cantilevered rear extensions. Consequently, the northern external façade of the bridge is asymmetrical, much altered and of no architectural merit, whereas the southern external side clearly shows the hand of Robert Adam.
Built of limestone, in classic Palladian style, the southern façade takes the form of a temple-like central bay with symmetrical wings connecting to two flanking, terminating pavilions. The central bay is given eminence by a broken pediment supported by austere Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
pilaster
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
s. It in turn is flanked by two small bays, each with a small pointed pediment supported by shallow pilasters, which further emphasise and complement the central broken pediment sitting above a large Palladian window – the focal point of the building. On this southern side the structure comprises a principal floor at street level, with a low mezzanine separated by stone banding above. Beneath the principal floor is a sub-floor constructed in the masonry between the spans of the bridge, its presence indicated by ocular
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and con ...
windows placed symmetrically beneath the span of each arch. This ocular motif, on a reduced scale, is repeated symmetrically at mezzanine level beneath the central broken pediment. The two terminating pavilions, in reality slight projections, have shallow saucer dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
s concealed behind their pointed pediments. The roof is pitched and of Welsh slate
The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the l ...
.
The western mid-stream pier was rebuilt in 1804. Further alteration took place in 1895, when the western pavilion was moved for the construction of the Grand Parade. The appearance changed yet again when the current weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
, the scene of Javert
Javert (), no first name given in the source novel, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables.'' He was presumably born in 1780 and died on June 7, 1832. First a prison guard, and then a polic ...
's suicide in the film version of ''Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...
'', was constructed between 1968 and 1972 as part of a flood-prevention scheme. Further restoration was undertaken in 1975.
Gallery
File:Close.front.Pulteney.Bridge.jpg, Pulteney Bridge in 2021
File:Weir.near.Pulteney.Bridge.jpg, Weir near Pulteney Bridge in 2021
File:Pulteney Bridge (view from the north side).jpg, View from the north side
File:Shops on Pulteney Bridge.JPG, Shops on the north side
See also
*Ponte Vecchio
The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge", ) is a Middle Ages, medieval stone closed-spandrel Circular segment, segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, Florence, Italy. The only bridge in Florence spared from destruction during the ...
*Krämerbrücke
The Krämerbrücke (; Merchants' bridge) is a medieval arch bridge in the city of Erfurt, in Thuringia, central Germany, which is lined with half-timbered shops and houses on both sides of a cobblestone street. It is one of the few remaining bri ...
*Rialto Bridge
The Rialto Bridge ( it, Ponte di Rialto; vec, Ponte de Rialto) is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Connecting the ' (districts) of San Marco and San Polo, it has been rebuilt several times since its fi ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
External links
{{Commons category
Lecture Diagram 58: Perspective Construction of Pulteney Bridge, Bath (after Thomas Malton Junior) c.1810
by Joseph Turner, at the Tate, retrieved 25 April 2013
Grade I listed buildings in Bath, Somerset
Bridges in Somerset
Grade I listed bridges
Robert Adam buildings
Bridges completed in 1774
Bridges with buildings
Neoclassical architecture in England
Palladian bridges
Arch bridges in the United Kingdom
Bridges across the River Avon, Bristol