Hexham Bridge is a road bridge in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

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 ...

linking Hexham with the North Tyne valley. It lies north of the town of Hexham and is the main access to the A69 bypass.

History

The Tyne was crossed by two ferries called the east and the west boats ( Warden Bridge). As a result of persistent agitation, a bridge was started in 1767 and completed in 1770. It was built by Mr Galt and consisted of seven arches. Less than a year later it was swept away in the great Tyne flood of 1771. In that flood, eight bridges shared the fate of Hexham. In 1774 a new attempt was made to the west by Mr Wooler, an engineer who had been working on the new Newcastle bridge. Piles were sunk to carry the piers but work was abandoned on discovering that the "soil beneath the gravel was a quicksand with no more resistance than chaff". This first bridge,

Hexham Old Bridge Hexham Old Bridge was an 18th-century stone bridge across the River Tyne at Hexham, Northumberland, England. It was located about upstream of the present Hexham Bridge. History The Tyne was crossed by two ferries called the east (at the loca ...

, was about upstream of the present bridge. The authorities next approached

John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the fi ...

, whose name as an engineer was famous. Henry Errington of Sandhoe was given the contract for the sum of £4,700,Northumberland Archives:
Hexham Bridge Papers SANT/BEQ/1/4/1
/ref> and work started in 1777. Although the half-completed piers were washed away the following year, work continued and the new bridge was opened to traffic in 1780 thers give 1781 However, on 10 March 1782, there was a heavy fall of snow followed by a violent hurricane. The valleys of the north and south Tyne were inundated and the nine arches were completely overturned. They are still visible and act as a sort of weir. Robert Mylne, a famous architect and engineer, was called in to report on the feasibility of rebuilding Smeaton's bridge. He was eventually given the contract to build a fourth bridge, and the work was completed in 1793. It is listed as a

Grade II* 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 ...

building by Historic England.

References

{{River item box , River = River Tyne , upstream = Constantius Bridge , upsub = {{UK road, A69 , downstream = Corbridge Bridge , downsub = {{UK road, B6321 , type = road bridge , table = end , location = NY940646 Bridges completed in 1793 Bridges in Northumberland Crossings of the River Tyne Grade II* listed buildings in Northumberland Grade II* listed bridges in England 1793 establishments in England Hexham