Trinity Bridge is a unique

three-way In human sexuality, a threesome is commonly understood as "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". Though ''threesome'' most commonly refers to sexua ...

stone

arch bridge 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 ...

that stands at the heart of

Crowland Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. la, Croilandia) is a town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland c ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England. While it once spanned the confluence of the

River Welland The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash. The river rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market ...

and a tributary, the rivers have been re-routed, and it now spans nothing significant.

History

The current bridge dates to the 14th century (built between 1360 and 1390) and replaced previous wooden bridges. The earliest known mention of the bridge is by King

Æthelbald of Mercia Æthelbald (also spelled Ethelbald or Aethelbald; died 757) was the King of Mercia, in what is now the English Midlands from 716 until he was killed in 757. Æthelbald was the son of Alweo and thus a grandson of King Eowa. Æthelbald came to t ...

in 716. In 943 it was mentioned in a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

Eadred Eadred (c. 923 – 23 November 955) was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder brother, Edmund, was killed tryin ...

. The bridge is now a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

and

Grade I listed 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 ...

. The bridge, also known as Croyland Bridge, consists of three gothic arches, and is supposed to have been built in honour of the Trinity, is of an earlier date than the Crusades, the time of building being determined to be of the year 860. The bridge is predominantly built from

Barnack stone Barnack is a village and civil parish, now in the Peterborough unitary authority of the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England and the historic county of Northamptonshire. Barnack is in the north-west of the unitary authority, south-east ...

, which was quarried about 10 miles to the west of Crowland, and presumably transported by boat on the Welland. This bridge has three stairways that converge at the top. Originally it spanned the

and a tributary that flowed through the town, although the rivers were re-routed in the mid-seventeenth century and no longer flow anywhere near the bridge. The bridge was an unusual and economical solution to the crossing of two watercourses at their confluence, reducing the need for three separate bridges to a single structure with three abutments.

Dry Bridge Dry Bridge ( sr, Мост на сувом, Суви мост) is a bridge in Zrenjanin, Serbia. It currently does not span any physical obstacle, since the flow of the river under it was diverted. History The bridge was built in 1962 by project en ...

Zrenjanin Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; hu, Nagybecskerek; ro, Becicherecu Mare; sk, Zreňanin; german: Großbetschkerek) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous pro ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, is another example of a bridge no longer crossing water, but it is far larger.

References

External links

Tourism article on Crowland
*
Report on the repair and stabilisation of Trinity Bridge
* {{Authority control Deck arch bridges Bridges in Lincolnshire Grade I listed buildings in Lincolnshire Stone bridges in the United Kingdom Arch bridges in the United Kingdom Grade I listed bridges Three-way bridges Bridges completed in the 14th century Pedestrian bridges in England Crowland