__NOTOC__ Ribchester Bridge is a toll-free, three-span

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

over the River Ribble near Ribchester,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, England. A Grade II listed structure, located about three quarters of a mile east of the village, it actually crosses the river between the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

es of

Clayton-le-Dale Clayton-le-Dale is a village and civil parish situated on the A59 road near Blackburn, in Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 1,228. The village is in the Ribble Valley local government district. ...

and Dutton. The bridge carries the two-lane traffic of the B6245 Ribchester Road. Thought to have been constructed in 1774, it is built of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

and consists of three segmental arches on triangular

cutwater In architecture, a starling (or sterling) is a defensive bulwark, usually built with pilings or bricks, surrounding the supports (or piers) of a bridge or similar construction. Starlings may be shaped to ease the flow of the water around the brid ...

s, with a string course and a solid

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

. The bridge has an overall length and width of (deck plus -wide parapets). The central span in the largest at with a rise of , with the others of differing, slightly smaller dimensions. This point on the river is above the

tidal limit Head of tide, tidal limit or tidehead is the farthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations, or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount. This applies to rivers which flow into tidal bodies such as oceans, b ...

, the banks approximately above the Ordnance datum. It has been an important crossing for millennia with the Roman fort here positioned to guard it; however, the origin of the earliest bridge is uncertain. The current bridge's predecessor had been constructed in 1669. William Stukeley in his 'Itinerarium Curiosum', published in 1721, described it as "a noble bridge of four very large arches" half a mile above Ribchester. The county authorities must have been aware of problems, as in 1769 tenders were invited for its reconstruction, but it collapsed during a flood in 1772. That bridge had also replaced another of unknown age. A charter of 1354 gave permission for the building of a bridge of wood or stone across the river at a place called 'Madynford', also granting some land for the use of the

ferryman A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

; however, this was possibly considerably downstream, near

Osbaldeston Osbaldeston is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England about north-west of Blackburn and east of Preston. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 185. Osbaldeston is on the A59 road and lies on the sou ...

Hall, where a ferry-crossing was still recorded in the mid-19th century.

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View from the western side of the bridge
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Google Street View Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas from positions along many streets in the world. It was launched in 2007 in several cities in the United States, and has since expan ...

, July 2016 {{Borough of Ribble Valley buildings Grade II listed buildings in Lancashire Bridges across the River Ribble Stone bridges in England Road bridges in England Grade II listed bridges Bridges completed in 1774 1774 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Ribble Valley

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