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Croft Bridge

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Coordinates: 54°28′59″N 1°33′16″W / 54.4830°N 1.5544°W / 54.4830; -1.5544
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Croft Bridge
Four arches of a stone bridge straddling a slow-flowing river, with green banks on eithers side
Coordinates54°28′59″N 1°33′16″W / 54.4830°N 1.5544°W / 54.4830; -1.5544
OS grid referenceNZ289098
CarriesA167 road
CrossesRiver Tees
LocaleHurworth, County Durham
Croft, North Yorkshire
Heritage statusGrade I listed
(Dual registered; see text)
Historic England numbers1116440
1131364
Preceded byBlackwell Bridge
Followed byCroft Viaduct
Characteristics
Total length330 feet (100 m)
History
Built14th century
Rebuilt1795
Location
Map

Croft Bridge is a road bridge over the River Tees, straddling the border between North Yorkshire and County Durham, in the north of England. The road over the bridge is now the A167, previously a second branch of the Great North Road, meeting the old road in Darlington. The bridge dates back to Medieval times, and is the setting for the awarding of a sword to the incoming Bishop of Durham.

History

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The origins of the bridge are in the 14th century, with documents referring to a bridge at the site in 1356 and 1361, though it is possible that either a ford or a timber bridge pre-dated the stone bridge.[1][2] A grant of pontage was made in 1356 for repairs to the bridge as it had been damaged by severe flooding.[3] In 1531 it was described as being "...[a] grete bridge at Crofte, beinge of sixe myghte large pillars and of seven arches of stone worke..."[4] Until the building of Blackwell Bridge in 1832 (further upstream) all traffic to the south from Darlington had to use Croft Bridge.[5][6] It remained an important crossing point between Yorkshire and County Durham; in late 1569, Sir Ralph Sadler and the Earl of Sussex, both loyal to Elizabeth I, gathered their forces at the bridge to ride northwards during the Rising of the North campaign.[7][8]

The bridge is 330 feet (100 m) long, and it has seven arches, each arch being pointed and ribbed, though six of these arches are narrow-ribbed, and the smallest arch is on the southern (Yorkshire) side.[9][10][11][3] A blue stone is a used as a marker on the third pier, and is inscribed with the following; "DUN CONTRIBVAT NORTH RID. COM EBOR. ET COM DTUNEL STATV. APVD SESS. VTBQe GEN. PAK. AN. DO. 1673."[12] Serious floods have the affected the bridge and its environs; in February 1753 severe flooding 15 feet (4.6 m) above the high-water mark caused the toll house to be swept away, taking £50 worth of toll-money with it, and in 1822, the water flooded the bridge to a depth of 15 feet (4.6 m) above its deck.[13]

Over the years, as the bridge became ruinous and dilapidated, arguments broke out between local authorities about who should maintain the bridge. In 1673, it was decreed that the third pier outwards from the Durham side would be the boundary marker between the two sides, with each district being responsible for the part of the bridge within their boundary.[4] This equates to 53 yards (48 m) on the Durham side, and 95 yards (87 m) on the Yorkshire side.[14] In 1795, the width of the bridge was extended by 15 feet (4.6 m) on the upstream side by noted architect John Carr.[15][16] For the use of the bridge, tolls were charged between 1745 and 1879, although the turnpike trust were not responsible for the bridge or for 300 feet (91 m) either side of it, which caused a case to be pursued through the courts when a traveller with carts used the bridge but turned off in Croft-on-Tees onto the Richmondshire road. Having done so, he at no point used the road which was the responsibility of the turnpike, though they felt he should have paid.[17]

The river downstream of Croft Bridge has a different landscape to that upstream of the bridge; notwithstanding the industrial changes, but in pre-historic times, the valley below the bridge was subject to natural flooding from meltwater and also marine inundation.[18] Now, the bridge carries the A167 road between Northallerton and Darlington. This was originally a branch of the Great North Road from York to Newcastle, which met up with the old A1 road just after it crossed Blackwell Bridge south of Darlington.[19][20] The bridge has a footpath on either side, and the road carriageway is 24 feet (7.3 m) across.[9]

The bridge is the setting for a handover whenever a new Bishop of Durham is elevated. The incoming bishop is greeted by the master of Sockburn manor with the falchion that was used to slay the Sockburn Worm. A few lines are said, and the bishop then gives the falchion back wishing the master of Sockburn, a long life, health and prosperity.[21] The ceremony used to be held at Neasham which is nearer Sockburn, but the ford there has become unpassable even in low water.[22] The ceremony was discontinued in 1826 when Durham ceased to be a Palatinate, but was revived by the investiture of John Habgood in 1973.[23][24][25]

Unusually, the bridge has two different listings with Historic England, both having Grade I listed status. The bridge at the County Durham side (Hurworth) was registered on 20 March 1967, and the Yorkshire side of the bridge, at Croft, was registered on 19 December 1951.[26][27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Croft Conservation Area (PDF). richmondshire.gov.uk (Report). 1988. p. 3 – via North Yorkshire Council (north.yorkshire.gov.uk).
  2. ^ Betteney, Alan (2019). "Crossing the Tees" (PDF). teesarchaeology.com. Cleveland Industrial Archaeology Society & Tees Archaeology. p. 14. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b Jervoise, E. (1973) [1931]. The ancient bridges of the North of England. Wakefield: EP Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 0-85409-952-2.
  4. ^ a b Stanley, Oliver, ed. (2011) [1933]. "Part 1: England". British Bridges; an Illustrated Technical and Historical Record. London: ICE Publishing. p. 362. ISBN 978-0-7277-5069-3.
  5. ^ Historic England. "Blackwell Bridge (Grade II) (1121318)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  6. ^ Rennison, Robert William; Barbey, M. F. (1996) [1981]. Civil engineering heritage. Northern England (2 ed.). London: T. Telford. p. 135. ISBN 0-7277-2518-1.
  7. ^ Longstaffe 1854, p. 107.
  8. ^ Lloyd, Chris (20 November 2002). "Echo memories - Boiled innards buried under a market square". The Northern Echo. p. 6. ISSN 2056-4287.
  9. ^ a b Barbey, M. F. (1981). Civil engineering heritage. Northern England. London: T. Telford. p. 46. ISBN 0-7277-0098-7.
  10. ^ Longstaffe 1854, p. 41.
  11. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002) [1966]. Yorkshire, the North Riding. London: Yale University Press. p. 133. ISBN 0-300-09665-8.
  12. ^ Boyd, H. F. (7 August 1875). "Croft bridge". Notes and Queries. s5-IV (84): 118. doi:10.1093/nq/s5-IV.84.118d.
  13. ^ Longstaffe 1854, pp. 19–20.
  14. ^ Graham, Frank (1975). The bridges of Northumberland and Durham. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Northern History. p. 5. ISBN 0-9028-3313-8.
  15. ^ Harrison, D. F. (May 1992). "Bridges and Economic Development, 1300-1800". The Economic History Review. 45 (2). Economic History Society: 253. ISSN 0013-0117. JSTOR 2597622.
  16. ^ Lloyd, Chris (14 July 2010). "A bridge to the past". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  17. ^ Robertson, Max A., ed. (1910). "Busey vs Storey". The English Reports. CX. Edinburgh: William Green & Sons: 392–397. OCLC 9031150.
  18. ^ House, John W.; Fullerton, Brian (1960). Tees-side at mid-century: an industrial and economic survey. London: MacMillan. p. 30. OCLC 5704897.
  19. ^ Harrison, David (2004). The bridges of medieval England: transport and society, 400-1800. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-19-927274-7.
  20. ^ Goddard, Frank (2004). The Great North Road: a guide for the curious traveller. London: Frances Lincoln. p. 111. ISBN 0711224463.
  21. ^ Harper, Charles George (1901). The Great North Road, the old mail road to Scotland. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 111. OCLC 1045590440.
  22. ^ "The Bridges of the Tees". BBC News. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  23. ^ Harper, Charles George (1901). The Great North Road, the old mail road to Scotland. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 112. OCLC 1045590440.
  24. ^ "Ecclesiastical Intelligence". The Times. No. 26553. 6 September 1901. p. 7. ISSN 0140-0460.
  25. ^ Rhea, Nicholas (7 June 2002). "Dragon-slayer's ancient welcome". infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  26. ^ Historic England. "Croft Bridge, Tees View (Grade I) (1116440)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  27. ^ Historic England. "Croft Bridge A167 (Grade I) (1131364)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 June 2024.

Sources

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  • Longstaffe, William Hylton (1854). The history and antiquities of the parish of Darlington, in the bishoprick [sic]. Darlington: Darlington & Stockton Times. OCLC 1045960811.
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