Sunderland Bridge is a bridge just outside the village also called Sunderland Bridge in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England. It lies close to the confluence of the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through th ...

and

River Browney The River Browney is a river in County Durham, England, and the largest tributary of the River Wear. The River Browney rises from a spring in Head Plantation, on the eastern slope of Skaylock Hill, about a mile south east of Waskerley. The spr ...

. Sunderland Bridge originally carried the Great North Road (A1) across the

, and probably dates back to the 14th century. It is built of dressed

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) ...

with four semicircular arches. The bridge has undergone several rebuilds, with the end arches being rebuilt in 1770, the

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

s widened in 1822, and new end walls built in the 19th century. It is a grade I

listed structure 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 ...

. When a new bridge was needed as the existing bridge was not wide enough to cope with traffic, Croxdale Bridge was constructed to the east of the existing bridge. The A1 at this point was later re-designated as the

A167 The A167 and A167(M) is a road in North East England. It is partially a trunk road and partially a motorway, where it is commonly referred to as Newcastle Central Motorway. Most of the road’s route was formerly that of the A1, until it was ...

, and Croxdale Bridge continues to carry this road. Sunderland Bridge now carries very little road traffic after Durham County Council closed off the old route of the Great North Road at local request. It allows access to the private Croxdale estate and a sewage works. The bridge also forms part of the Weardale Way long-distance footpath. The bridge straddles the parishes of

Brandon and Byshottles Brandon and Byshottles is a civil parish and electoral ward in County Durham, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 17,774 increasing to 18,509 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes Brandon, New Brancepeth, Broompark, ...

and

Croxdale and Hett Croxdale and Hett is a civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated approximately four miles south of Durham. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 866. The parish comprises the settlements of: * Croxdale * ...

References

Bridges across the River Wear Grade I listed buildings in County Durham Scheduled monuments in County Durham Grade I listed bridges {{Durham-geo-stub