Tavy Bridge is a railway bridge across the mouth of the

River Tavy The Tavy () is a river on Dartmoor, Devon, England. The name derives from the Brythonic root "Tam", once thought to mean 'dark' but now generally understood to mean 'to flow'. It has given its name to the town of Tavistock and the villages o ...

just east of its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

with the

River Tamar The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. T ...

. It was built by the

Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway (PD&SWJR) was an English railway company. It constructed a main line railway between Lydford and Devonport, in Devon, England, enabling the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) to reac ...

, and the Tavy Bridge was constructed to carry the track over the Tavy Estuary and the adjoining mudflats. The bridge is a Grade II

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 ...

, with both ends being listed separately.

Structure

The Tavy Bridge spans the estuary of the

. It is a railway bridge carrying the

Tamar Valley Line The Tamar Valley Line is a railway line from Plymouth, Devon, to Gunnislake, Cornwall, in England, also known as the Gunnislake branch line. The line follows the River Tamar for much of its route. Like all railway lines in Devon and Cornwall, i ...

and opened in 1889. The centre part of the bridge spans the deepwater channel and is made up of eight iron bowstring braced girders supported by seven pairs of circular cast iron pillars with pediment caps. To north and south, sections of

stone arch An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct (a ...

viaduct cross the tidal mudflats, connecting the central section to the shore, two arches to the north and seven to the south of the main bridge. The part of the bridge in South Hams District has been a Grade II

since 2 February 1984, and the part in the civil parish of

Bere Ferrers Bere Ferrers, sometimes called ''Beerferris'', is a village and civil parish on the Bere peninsula in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is located to the north of Plymouth, on the west bank of the River Tavy. It has a railway stat ...

has been similarly designated since 26 January 1987.

History

The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway (PD&SWJR) was an English railway company; it constructed a main line railway between Lydford and Devonport, in Devon, England, enabling the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

to reach Plymouth more conveniently than previously. The company was formed in 1883 and the railway line from Lydford to Devonport, which included this bridge over the Tavy Estuary, was opened in 1890. It was built by the

, headed by William Hardy to carry the line from

St Budeaux St Budeaux is an area and ward in the north west of Plymouth in the English county of Devon. Original settlement The name St Budeaux comes from Saint Budoc, the Bishop of Dol (Brittany). Around 480, Budoc is said to have founded a settlement ...

Bere Alston Bere Alston is a village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers. History and geography With a population of about 2,000, the village lies in the Bere peninsula, between the rivers ...

, now part of the

The line was operated by the London and South Western Railway which had put up some of the capital in the Company. The London and South Western Railway eventually took over the running of the line in 1922. The part of the bridge in South Hams District is a Grade II

, having been so designated on 2 February 1984.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Tavy Bridge
Aerial view
Railway bridges in Devon Truss bridges Bridges completed in 1890 Bere Ferrers Bickleigh, South Hams