Fingle Bridge is a 17th-century 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 ...

carrying an unclassified road over the

River Teign The River Teign is a river in the county of Devon, England. It is long and rises on Dartmoor, becomes an estuary just below Newton Abbot and reaches the English Channel at Teignmouth. Toponymy The river-name 'Teign' is first attested in an An ...

near

Drewsteignton Drewsteignton is a village, civil parish and former manor within the administrative area of West Devon, England, also lying within the Dartmoor National Park. It is located in the valley of the River Teign, west of Exeter and south east of ...

, within

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...

National Park in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

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 ...

. This

packhorse bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low parapets so ...

has three arches and the two central piers are surrounded by triangular cutwaters extending upwards to form pedestrian refuges, and is a Grade II* listed building.

History

Fingle Bridge takes its name from Fingle Brook, a minor tributary which flows into the Teign adjacent to the bridge. Fingle is derived from the old English "fang", meaning to catch, a reference to the suitability of the stretch of river for fishing. The bridge sits in the base of the deep Teign Gorge, between the ancient hillforts of

Prestonbury Castle Prestonbury Castle is an Iron Age Hill fort on the north east edge of Dartmoor in Devon, England. Situated on a massive hilltop some 240 metres above sea level overlooking the Teign Valley, it is located near two other hill forts (Cranbrook Castl ...

above the river to the north and

Cranbrook Castle Cranbrook Castle is an Iron Age Hill fort occupying a commanding hilltop just to the south of and overlooking the Teign valley in Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in Sout ...

above to the south, and the bridge is built on the historic crossing point between the two. In its early years the bridge was an important crossing over the Teign used by packhorses transporting corn and wood products across the gorge, although the track up to Cranbrook Castle is now an unmaintained byway such that the bridge leads only to a car park on the south side of the river for roadgoing vehicles, the bridge's function having been replaced by the larger and more accessible Dogmarsh Bridge further upstream on the

A382 road The A382 is a road in South West England, connecting Newton Abbot to the A38, then to Bovey Tracey and on through Moretonhampstead to the A30. Route The road starts in Newton Abbot at the junction with the A381, continuing out through the t ...

. The arches were repaired, believed by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

to have been in the 19th century. In 1897 Jesse Ashplant founded the Fingle Bridge Tea Shelter on the north landing of the bridge, serving refreshments to the fishermen, tourists and grain carriers of the day. This developed into the Anglers' Rest

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and was later renamed as the Fingle Bridge Inn. In 1955 Fingle Bridge was designated 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 Ir ...

, reclassified in 1967 as Grade II*.

Related buildings

Fingle Mill once stood downstream, a corn mill recorded as being in operation as early as 1790 by the then owner of the bridge, George Ponsford, powered by a now-defunct long

leat A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Othe ...

. The track leading south to Cranbrook Castle is also the site of one of the

Dartmoor crosses The Dartmoor crosses are a series of stone crosses found in Dartmoor National Park in the centre of Devon, England. Many of them are old navigational aids, needed because of the remoteness of the moorland and its typically bad weather. Some mark ...

which is in the style of a granite slab with the cross engraved on it.

References

{{reflist, 33em Historic trails and roads in the United Kingdom Grade II* listed bridges in England Bridges in Devon Deck arch bridges Grade II* listed buildings in Devon Bridges completed in the 17th century Stone bridges in England Packhorse bridges Moretonhampstead