Godmanchester Chinese Bridge is a landmark of the town of

Godmanchester Godmanchester ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is separated from Huntingdon, to the north, by the valley of the River Great Ouse. Being on the Roman road network, the town has a lo ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

(now administered as part of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

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 ...

). It is a pedestrian

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

that spans a mill stream on the River Great Ouse and is, as the name suggests, built in an ostensibly Chinese style. The original was constructed in 1827 to designs by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

James Gallier James Gallier (24 July 1798– 3 October 1866) was a prominent nineteenth-century Ireland, Irish-born American architect, most famed for his buildings in New Orleans. Gallier Hall, which he designed and once served as New Orleans City Hall, is ...

, but it fell into a bad condition and was replaced with a replica by the local council in 1960. The origins of the bridge are somewhat unusual. " Chinese Chippendale" had been a fashion of the mid-18th century, a time when the town was building a mansion for the

Receiver General A receiver general (or receiver-general) is an officer responsible for accepting payments on behalf of a government, and for making payments to a government on behalf of other parties. See also * Treasurer * Receiver General for Canada * Recei ...

of Huntingdonshire by the river. Island Hall had included a rather smaller Chinese bridge, linking it to an ornamental island. It seems likely that this served as the inspiration for the public bridge several decades later – its white

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

s are also in the Chinese Chippendale style. The bridge was removed by crane on Tuesday 9 February 2010. A replica, built in Yorkshire by CTS Bridges, was put into position on Monday 15th and Tuesday 16 February.

In popular culture

The bridge was the principal subject for the song "Godmanchester Chinese Bridge" by The Howl & The Hum

References

Bridges in Cambridgeshire Bridges across the River Great Ouse Bridges completed in 1827 Bridges completed in 1960 Pedestrian bridges in England 1827 establishments in England Godmanchester {{UK-bridge-struct-stub