STOODLEIGH BRIDGE, Devon Replacement Br. 1998 site: N50o 57' 28" W30 30' 23.55 Pieces of original bridge: N50o 57' 08.99" W3o 31' 22.80" (numbers need checking)
This unusual bridge was fortunately 'dumped' in the woods nearby when it was replaced in 1998. It is almost completely intact in two lengthwise halves. The road bed appears to have been supported by iron rods descending from two arches of iron formed by half tubes. Rivets hold the pieces together. The space between the arches and the road bed was filled with a lattice work of iron. The replacement bridge has attempted to give the same effect with full tubular arches with descending rods from which the road bed hangs. It is handsome, but not as wonderfully eclectic as the original.
"At the time of its removal, the bridge was a public road bridge maintained by the Devon County Council. Before its removal, DCC commissioned an historical assessment and evaluation by Keystone Historical Building Consultants. This concluded inter alia that the bridge was originally constructed on the Stoodleigh estate as a private bridge carrying a private drive across the Exe into the estate from the Tiverton/Dulverton turnpike road. There was no bridge or drive there in 1842 (Tiverton tithe map). The earliest mention found by Keystone of 'an iron bridge leading to Stoodleigh' is in a newspaper item in 1863. The drive is first mentioned, in another newspaper item, in 1866. Hence, the provisional date range 1842-1866. The main purpose of the bridge seems to have been as a means of getting felled timber out of the estate and down towards Tiverton - hence the rather utilitarian form." (Summary of a report by David Greenfield 2009)
The site of the bridge is on the lane to Stoodleigh from the west side of the A396 between Tiverton and Dulford as it crosses the River Exe almost immediately. The turnoff is well marked 'Stoodleigh'. The old bridge is in the woods about a mile toward Tiverton from its former site a
