The Old Dee Bridge in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England, is the oldest bridge in the city. It crosses the River Dee carrying the road that leads from the bottom of Lower Bridge Street and the

Bridgegate Bridgegate may refer to: * Bridgegate, Chester, part of the city walls of Chester, U.K. * The Fort Lee lane closure scandal under New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's administration See also * Drawbridge, a type of bridge stereotypically employ ...

Handbridge Handbridge is a district of Chester, England on the south bank of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee. A settlement has existed on the site since the Iron Age , but the site saw major expansion during the collapse of the Roman occupation of Britain, ...

. A bridge on this site was first built in the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

era, and the present bridge is largely the result of a major rebuilding in 1387. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade I

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 Irel ...

, and is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

History

The original bridge was built for the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and probably had stone

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

carrying a timber carriageway. This seems to have disappeared by the 10th century, as in the reign of Queen

Æthelflæd Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians ( 870 – 12 June 918) ruled Mercia in the English Midlands from 911 until her death. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and his wife Ealhswith. Æth ...

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

(AD 911–918) there was only a ferry. A bridge had been built by 1086, when the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

records that the Provost of

Chester Castle Chester Castle is in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. It is sited at the southwest extremity of the area bounded by the city walls. The castle stands on an eminence overlooking the River Dee. In the castle complex are the remaining par ...

could summon a man from every hide of land in Cheshire to rebuild Chester's walls and bridge. The bridge was reached by a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

, which according to a manuscript in the

Harleian Collection The Harleian Library, Harley Collection, Harleian Collection and other variants ( la, Bibliotheca Harleiana) is one of the main "closed" collections (namely, historic collections to which new material is no longer added) of the British Library in ...

was built for

Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. Early life and career Hugh d'Avra ...

(died 1101) along with

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

s on the Dee at that point. The bridge was repaired in the next two centuries but in 1279–80 the timber superstructure was swept away. Further repairs were made by Sir Thomas de Ferrers, Justice of Chester in about 1347–49 and by Stephen de Merton in the 1350s. In 1357

Edward, the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, su ...

ordered the mayor and citizens of Chester to make:

''...with all speed their part of the bridge of Dee... in the same manner and style as the remainder of the bridge which has been newly made.''

It is likely that this rebuilding resulted in the bridge that exists today. In 1367 the citizens of Chester were granted

murage Murage was a medieval toll for the building or repair of town walls in England, Wales and Ireland. Origin The term ''murage'', while having this specific meaning, could also refer to other aid for walls or to the walls themselves. It is generally ...

(the toll for repair of the town walls) but all profits went ''"to the fabric and for the repair of the bridge"''. In December 1388 a grant of

pontage Pontage was a term for a toll levied for the building or repair of bridges dating to the medieval era in England, Wales and Ireland. Pontage was similar in nature to murage (a toll for the building of town walls) and pavage (a toll for paving ...

was made to the "mayor, bailiffs and good men of Chester" for a period of three years. Old Dee Bridge from DownStream 4

The bridge is built in local red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

. It has seven arches, all of which are of different dimensions. The two northernmost arches formerly spanned the

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. Other ...

leading to the mills. The southernmost arch replaced the medieval

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

. A tower was built on the bridge between 1399 and 1407, as part of the city's defences. In 1407 a

moiety Moiety may refer to: Chemistry * Moiety (chemistry), a part or functional group of a molecule ** Moiety conservation, conservation of a subgroup in a chemical species Anthropology * Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is ...

(''i.e.'' half) of the murage was allowed to complete the tower

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mos ...

on the bridge. The gatehouse was demolished in 1781. In 1825–26 the bridge was widened by Thomas Harrison to provide a footway on the upstream side. Around this time it was decided that it was becoming inadequate for the expected traffic and it was decided to build an additional bridge to link the city with North Wales. The result was the

Grosvenor Bridge Grosvenor Bridge, originally known as, and alternatively called Victoria Railway Bridge, is a railway bridge over the River Thames in London, between Vauxhall Bridge and Chelsea Bridge. Originally constructed in 1860, and widened in 1865 and 19 ...

, designed by Thomas Harrison and officially opened in 1832 although it was not finished for traffic to cross it until 1 January 1834.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Images at geograph
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place = River Dee , bridge = Old Dee Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Queens Park Bridge Queens is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the boro ...

, upstream signs = , downstream =

Grosvenor Bridge (Chester) The Grosvenor Bridge is a single-span stone arch road bridge crossing the River Dee at Chester, England. Located on the A483 Grosvenor Road (), it was designed by Thomas Harrison and opened by Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld on 17 Oc ...

, downstream signs = Buildings and structures completed in 1387 Bridges in Cheshire Buildings and structures in Chester Grade I listed bridges Grade I listed buildings in Chester Bridges across the River Dee, Wales Scheduled monuments in Cheshire Thomas Harrison buildings Arch bridges in the United Kingdom Bridges completed in the 14th century Former toll bridges in England