British Iron Bridges

Worcestershire

CROOME PARK BRIDGES 1796 Worcestershire N52o 47' 30.2" W2o 1' 45.3"

For the last 12 years, the National Trust has been restoring the gardens of Capability Brown's first commission whose naturalistic concept revolutionized English landscape design which until then had been following the highly stylized design of Italian and French gardens. In 1751, the First Earl of Coventry also commissioned Robert Adams and then James Wyatt to redo the house and the parkland buildings in the new Palladian or Georgian style. This pair of white wrought iron bridges providing access to the lake islands were designed by Wyatt and built by John Mackell, who was well-known in the area for his iron work. They seem very modern to our eyes because of their elegant simplicity. (There is a modern bridge nearby, painted black, which is similar to them but which just misses achieving their graceful proportions).

This site is well signed from A38 between Worcester and Tewksbury starting in Severn Stoke. The problem comes in finding your way out in the confusing maze of small villages and country roads which are not signed in reverse. Memorize your lefts and rights as you go in!

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Category: Worcestershire

BEVERE ISLAND BRIDGE 1844 Worchester N52o 47’ 30.2” W2o 1’ 45.3”

This graceful, shallow arch bridge with handsome brick abutments with flaring approach walls and capped pediments seems quite out of place in the fields. It spans a branch of the Severn just above a weir between the main land and Bevere Island just north of Worchester on the A449. It has open spandrels with simple vertical bars and three ribs which are further braced by rods and cross bars underneath. The railings are of simple vertical fencing.

It was once carried a carriage drive over the Severn River to a private estate on the Island owned by the reclusive Mr. Moon who was the Chief Engineer of the London/North Western Rail Co. and who retired to his Bevere Island propery according to Mr Max Sinclair, local historian. Mr Moon was prone to unannounced inspections, so the signal men would warn each other of his approach by telegraphing “Moonlight tonight” to each other. Mr Sinclair claims this is the origin of the expression “Moonlighting”.

It is difficult to find, but it is on a public footpath. On the A449 heading towards Ombersley, look closely for a small turn-off to the left marked “Lock Lane”. Proceed, bearing left, to the end and a stile at an iron farm gate with circle design. Follow the footpath along the right edge of two fields with stiles between. Just before the brick wall of a residence at the end of the second field, take a path downhill toward the river. At the bottom, turn left along river to two more stiles and fields to finally see the bridge spanning the waterway but leading to nowhere now.

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Category: Worcestershire

HOLT FLEET BRIDGE 1828 Thomas Telford Nr. Ombersley, Worchestershire HEW 135 SO 824 634 N53o 5’ 37.7” W3o 48’ 28.1”

To find this charming bridge exit Ombersley on the A4133 towards Ludlow which will take you across this bridge a mile or so to the west in the riverside port of Holt Fleet.

This simple, single span bridge arches 150 feet across the Severn River with the grace and flair of all Telford’s bridges. The substantial red sandstone abutments and flood arches give an architectural flair to the simple spandrels of cast iron struts and tie rods. There are five cast iron arched ribs. The whole is secured with mortise and tendon joints and cast iron wedges. The deck plates rest on cast iron beams six inches deep. It was built by William Hazeltine.

As you will notice, in 1928 the bridge was strengthened with reinforced concrete which encases the upper and lower side of the arch ribs over their full span and width. In addition, the bridge was sensitively widened by extending the roadway over the outer arches with a new concrete roadbed.

The sandstone abutments are in scale to the bridge and the whole effect is of airy strength and grace. The bridge was strengthened with reinforced concrete deck which is cantilevered over the edge to widen the roadway.

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Category: Worcestershire