East Anglia
Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk
MAGDALENE BRIDGE 1823 Cambridge HEW1340 TL447 589 N51o 48' 17.1" W0o 3' 24"
This has been a succession of bridges over the River Cam on this site beginning with the wooden Roman one. Arthur Browne designed and built this cast iron replacement for the previous 1754 stone bridge. Benjamin Bevan who had worked on the Wolverton Aqueduct and perhaps the Tickford Bridge was the engineer. Browne disdained the open spandrel concept of other contemporary iron bridges and chose instead a gothic revival decoration on solid iron panels. The eight cast iron ribs are incased in a “box” of solid panels which was filled with dirt and on which in turn the road bed rests. This extra weight eventually led to an unacceptable sag and the dirt was removed to allow the internal insertion of a steel framework in 1982.
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- Category: East Anglia
HELMINGHAM HALL BRIDGES 1800 John Nash nr Ipswich Suffolk HEW 341 TM 187 577 N52o 10' 25.7" E1o 38' 39.5"
This pair of Regency cast iron bridges cross the moat on different facades of Helmingham Hall, the seat of Lord Tollemache. They were designed by John Nash who was making major alterations to the Hall at this time to replace the original arched brick bridge, or perhaps by John Adey Repton, the garden designer for Lord Tollemache. They were cast by Ransome & Son, Ipswich. On each bridge, there is a main cast iron span of 31’6” with a semi-elliptical arch with three ribs and an iron side span with a pointed arch to balance the original timber drawbridge at the Hall side of each bridge. The Regency gothic theme is reflected in the details of the bridge ironwork and on the brick pilasters which match the strong Tudor/Gothic design of the house. A most delightful fantasy house in a glorious garden.
It is located in a maze of country lanes, but there is good signage from A1120 and from B1077.
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- Category: East Anglia
HELLESDON BRIDGE 1818 James Frost Norwich N52o 38’ 34.8” E1o 14’ 58”
Small iron bridge across the Witham which at the time was an industrial area of mills and workshops. This is now a riverside biking trail. A railroad ran parallel to the river in the late 19th c and almost at right angles to and visible from the 1818 bridge is one of its bridges built in 1882 with a girder triangular truss, similar to the concept of Pont-y-cafnu iron bridge in Wales.
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- Category: East Anglia