St George's Bridge was a bridge over the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

; so named as it was close to the medieval St George's Hospital. It connected

Frankwell Frankwell is a district of the town of Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, England. It lies adjacent to the River Severn, to the northwest of the town centre, and is one of Shrewsbury's oldest suburbs. The main road running through the area is also calle ...

, an old suburb of the town, to the town centre via Mardol. The gate on the town side was called ''Mardol Gate'' and is located where the Mardol Quay Gardens are. The gate on the other side was called ''Welsh Gate'' or ''St George's Gate''. The bridge, sometimes now known as the Old Welsh Bridge, was demolished in 1795 and was replaced with the

Welsh Bridge The Welsh Bridge is a masonry arch viaduct in the town of Shrewsbury, England, which crosses the River Severn. It connects Frankwell with the town centre. It is a Grade II* listed building. The bridge was designed and built from 1793 to ...

. The bridge's date of construction is believed to have been about 1262. In 1539 John Leland described it as follows:

... the greatest, fayrest and highest upon the streame is the Welsh Bridge having 6 great Arches of Stone, soe called because it is the Way out of the Towne into Walles. This Bridge standeth on the West Syde of the Towne, and hath at the one End of it a great Gate to enter by into the Towne, and at the other End towardes Wales a might strong Towre to prohibit Enimies to enter into the Bridge.

The bridge was variously described as ''Walshebrugge'' (in 1336), and ''Walshemanne's brigge'' (in 1351). A public convenience was built on it in about 1496 . One span was a timber

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

, while several shops had been built near the middle of the bridge. It is recorded that one tower was still in existence until late in the bridge's life. Above the main tower was a statue of Richard Plantagenet, removed in 1791. The

however was built about 80 yards (73m) further downstream, connecting Barker Street (at what was ''Cripple Lode Gate'') with Frankwell. This bridge remains to the day and still carries traffic over the Severn. The section of Barker Street which is on the bridge end has been called Bridge Street since the building of the new bridge. In 2004, the council installed an information board about the history of the bridge and Mardol, at the bottom of Mardol on the approach to the site of the bridge. Only one dry arch of the old St George's Bridge now remains, on the Frankwell side. The arch was excavated during the construction of Theatre Severn in the late 2000s and is preserved within its foundations.

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

. It is also given to the ( CofE) church in Frankwell, which is within walking distance of the Welsh Bridge/site of St George's Bridge.

Notes

References

New discoveries at Frankwell site
*Blackwall, Anthony, ''Historic Bridges of Shropshire'', Shropshire Libraries, 1985, *Cragg, R., ''Civil Engineering Heritage - Wales & West Central England'', Thomas Telford Publishing, 2nd edn., 1997, *Jervoise, E., ''Ancient Bridges of Wales & Western England'', EP Publishing Ltd., 1976, , first published 1936 {{River Severn, state= collapsed History of Shropshire Archaeological sites in Shropshire Bridges completed in the 13th century Bridges in Shrewsbury Bridges across the River Severn Demolished bridges in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1795

See also

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References