Hexham Old Bridge was an 18th-century stone bridge across the River Tyne at Hexham,

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 ...

. It was located about upstream of the present Hexham Bridge.

History

The Tyne was crossed by two ferries called the east (at the location of the present bridge) and the west boats (Warden Bridge). As a result of persistent agitation a bridge was started in 1767 and completed in 1770. A map of 1769 by W. Armstrong shows the bridge to the west of Hexham close by the present Old Bridge End farm. It was built by a Mr. Gait 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 fifty yards 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". Nothing remains today of Hexham Old Bridge but the name continues as the name of the adjacent farm: Old Bridge End ().

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{{River item box , River = River Tyne , upstream = Constantius Bridge , upsub = (A69 road) , downstream = Hexham Bridge , downsub = (

A6079 road The A6079 is a road in Northumberland, northern England, that runs eight miles (13 km) from Hexham to the A68 road. Route The road begins in Hexham before overlapping the A69 for 0.7 miles, then passing the villages of Acomb and Wall p ...

) , type = road crossing , table = end , location = NY929653 Bridges in Northumberland Crossings of the River Tyne Hexham