The Clattern Bridge is a bridge over the

Hogsmill River The Hogsmill River in Surrey and Greater London, England is a small chalk stream tributary of the River Thames. It rises in Ewell and flows into the Thames at Kingston upon Thames on the lowest non-tidal reach, that above Teddington Lock. The ...

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

. It was built around 1175 and is thus one of the oldest intact bridges in England. It replaced an older Saxon bridge which was known as the Clatrung Bridge. Its various names, such as the Clateryngbrugge, are thought to derive from the clattering of horses' hooves as they crossed the bridge. The bridge still carries a full load of modern vehicle traffic. Up to the 18th century, the bridge was used as a site for the ducking of scolds with a

cucking stool Cucking stools or ducking stools were chairs formerly used for punishment of disorderly women, Common scold, scolds, and dishonest tradesmen in England, Scotland, and elsewhere. The cucking-stool was a form of or "women's punishment," as refe ...

. The bridge also featured in the traditional game of football held in the centre of Kingston each year on

Shrove Tuesday Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession and absolution, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten ...

. It was the goal for one of the teams, while the nearby Kingston Bridge was the other goal.

Construction

The bridge was constructed around 1175, during the Norman era, replacing an earlier Saxon bridge. The lower portion consists of three arches made of properly dressed ashlar stones with a filling of flint rubble. In 1758, the local authority, which was then the Kingston Court of Assembly, agreed to widen the bridge. The addition was made of red brick which was bonded into the existing stone arches. Brick

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'). ...

s were built and these were capped with stone. In 1852, the bridge was widened again with the addition of more brick-built structure. An ornamental railing was added at this time. This structure is considered quite sound and continues to bear a full load of traffic. It was scheduled as an

ancient monument In British law, an ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument (e.g. an archaeological site) worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. The ''Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 ...

on 16 February 1938 and its structure is now Grade I listed. In 2012, a zoological survey found that

eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

were having difficulty migrating upstream under the bridge, due to the fast flow of water across the smooth surface under the bridge. Tiles were fixed to the river bed with protrusions so that the eels could wriggle up them to pass the bridge and eels are now found upstream on the Hogsmill.

Traditions

Scolds were ducked at the bridge, using a

. Kingston was still doing this as late as 1745 when the landlady of the Queen's Head was ducked before a large crowd. A traditional game of football was held each year for centuries in Kingston. Men of the town would meet at the Druid's Head on

and then the two teams – the Townsend and the Thames-Street – would compete to get the ball to one of the two goals: the great bridge over the Thames or the Clattern Bridge. William Biden tells that this started with an 8th-century dispute between rivals Kenulf and Kynard. In the late 18th century, the authorities tried to suppress the game on account of its violence and disruption of the town's trade. The Riot Act was read in 1798 and the cavalry at

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

was sent for but did not respond as they were playing football too. The game was finally displaced from the public highway in 1867, when the authorities managed to move the game to a local playing field.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * *{{citation , url=http://www.southeastriverstrust.org/eel-passage-on-the-hogsmill/ , title=Eel Passage on the Hogsmill , publisher=South East Rivers Trust , date=12 December 2016 , ref={{harvid, SERT Bridges in London Bridges completed in the 1170s Grade I listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Transport in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Grade I listed bridges in London