St Ives Bridge
Encyclopedia
River Great Ouse
The Great Ouse is a river in the east of England. At long, it is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river has been important for navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in...
in St Ives
St Ives, Cambridgeshire
St Ives is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England, around north-west of the city of Cambridge and north of London. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Huntingdonshire.-History:...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It noted for being one of only four bridges in England to incorporate a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
(the others being at Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
, Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, and Bradford-on-Avon).
History
Prior to the first bridge here there was a fordFord (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...
across the Ouse, probably dating back several thousand years. The river was at that time wider and shallower until locks were added to make it navigable.
The St Ives settlement was developed by the monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s of Ramsey Abbey
Ramsey Abbey
Ramsey Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, England, southeast of Peterborough and north of Huntingdon, UK.-History:...
who built the town's first bridge, a wooden structure, in 1107. In 1414 it was decided to replace this bridge with a stone
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
arch bridge
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
, which was completed in 1425, adding the chapel dedicated to St Leger
Leodegar
Saint Leodegar or Leger, Bishop of Autun , was the great opponent of Ebroin— the mayor of the Palace of Neustria— and the leader of the faction of Austrasian great nobles in the struggles for hegemony over the waning Merovingian dynasty...
in 1426.
Such chapels were relatively common in medieval times and served as toll-houses, as well as to allow travellers to pray or to give thanks for a safe journey. They also hosted church services.
During the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
the bridge was partially blown up by the troops of Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
to prevent King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
's troops approaching London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from the Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
base in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. The two arches on the southern side were demolished and a drawbridge
Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...
installed in 1645 as a defensive measure by Cromwell's forces, who held the town. The drawbridge remained in use until 1716. When the bridge was rebuilt that year, the shape of the new arches was different from the surviving ones, leaving the bridge with two rounded arches on its South side and two Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
arches on the North.
The chapel was restored in 1930, having previously served as a toll house
Toll house
A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road or canal. Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and early 19th centuries...
, inn and as a private residence. It had originally been designed as a chapel, though, and dedicated by the monks to Saint Leger. By 1736 it was being used as accommodation
Dwelling
Dwelling, as well as being a term for a house, or for living somewhere, or for lingering somewhere, is a philosophical concept which was developed by Martin Heidegger. Dwelling is about making yourself at home where the home itself is a building that is a house...
, and in that year two extra floors were added. During the 1850s and 1860s it was turned into a notorious public house, then a doctor's surgery. By 1930 the structure was found to be weakened so the extra stories were removed and the chapel restored. As a result of this, the roof
Roof
A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Structures that require roofs range from a letter box to a cathedral or stadium, dwellings being the most numerous....
is modern. An unusual feature is the crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
, about two metres above the river's water level. The bridge and the chapel are now Grade I listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...
.
The bridge served as the primary southern entrance to the town and the only road bridge across the river until Harrison Way by-pass was added down-river to the east in 1980.
Preservation
The bridge is one of nine Scheduled Ancient Monument Grade 1 in Cambridgeshire. All maintenance must be carried out in a sympathetic manner to preserve its aesthetic and functional aspects. Since 1980 the foundations have been strengthened and the structure reinforced. In 1998 the bridge was resurfaced, special precautions being taken to prevent water ingress into the structure. In 2002, external lighting of the arches and chapel was fitted, along with internal lighting of the chapel and lights fitted into the pedestrian refuges at each pier. English HeritageEnglish Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
control all work on the bridge, although it is not one of the properties in Cambridgeshire that they own.
1976
A gravel lorry breached the parapet, St Ives sub-aqua club recover the stones from the river-bed.External links
- Photographs exploring the Chapel, and showing the previous extra floors.
- Night picture of the bridge and Chapel, newly floodlighted in 2002/3.
- Panoramic view from the bridge
- Information provided by British WaterwaysBritish WaterwaysBritish Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...
- Bridge maintenance policy
- See also Old Bridge, HuntingdonOld Bridge, HuntingdonThe old bridge in Huntingdon is a well-preserved medieval stone bridge over the River Great Ouse, connecting Huntingdon to Godmanchester.-History:...
, 6 miles up-stream.