Whitby Swing Bridge is a pedestrian and road bridge over the River Esk in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, England.

History

The River Esk has been crossed by bridges at this location for centuries. A grant made by

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

in 1351 allowed the collection of tolls for the maintenance of a bridge. By the mid 1550s the tolls averaged around £6 per annum (equivalent to £ as of ). In 1629 an agreement was made by the justices in the North Riding to replace a wooden bridge with one which included moving parts. This was later replaced by a drawbridge and the first

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then p ...

was opened in 1833, designed by Francis Pickernell.

Current bridge

By the early 20th century the limited clearance of the 1835 bridge was restricting the size of vessels which could be built up-stream of the bridge. A replacement swing bridge was commissioned by Whitby Urban District Council. It was designed by J Mitchell Moncrieff,The Electrical review: Volume 69. 1911 later President of the

Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a professional body for structural engineering based in the United Kingdom. The Institution has over 30,000 members operating in over 100 countries. The Institution provides professional accreditation ...

. It was opened in July 1909 by Mabel Theresa Duncombe, the daughter of the Viscount of Helmsley and the wife of local MP, Sir Gervase Beckett. The bridge consists of two leaves moved independently by electric motors. The bridge originally carried the

A171 road The A171 is a road in England that links the North Yorkshire towns of Middlesbrough, Guisborough, Whitby, Robin Hood's Bay and Scarborough. Locally it is known as The Moor Road. The road is mostly single carriageway but has some sections of du ...

. To avoid congestion in the town centre, the road was diverted to a high level bridge over the Esk Valley built in 1980. The bridge is not wide enough for vehicles to pass, so vehicular access to the bridge is controlled by traffic lights. The bridge is opened to shipping either side of high tide, but is quickly closed again to allow for traffic movement. Until 2011 the bridge had a weight limit of 17 tons. This was reduced to 7.5 tons in 2011 by

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is the county council governing the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire; an area composing most of North Yorkshire in England. The council currently consists of 90 councillors. The council is curren ...

. The bridge was featured in Episode 3 of the first season of the

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

series

The Grand Tour ''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman, made for Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November ...

during the "Celebrity Brain Crash" segment. Actor

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom '' Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. ...

walked across the bridge while it was opening, during which he was attacked by

seagulls Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, ...

, resulting in him falling off and "drowning" in Whitby Harbour. The bridge was also visible in the background throughout the studio segments.

References

Bridges in North Yorkshire Bridges completed in 1909 Swing bridges in England Former toll bridges in England 1909 establishments in England {{UK-bridge-struct-stub