Holman's Bridge
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Holman's Bridge is a brick-built bridge on the A413 to the north of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. It is where the A413 crosses the River Thame. Aylesbury's first Charter of Incorporation in 1554 marked Holman's Bridge as the northernmost boundary of the town.[1]
It was the location, in 1642, of the Battle of Aylesbury, where although heavily outnumbered a Parliamentarian garrison under Sir William Balfore took the town of Aylesbury from the Royalist forces of Prince Rupert.[2] After the battle the bodies of the dead were thrown into a common grave near the bridge. In 1818 they were exhumed and their bones moved to a common grave in nearby Hardwick.[3]
In 2006 work began to widen the bridge to cater for extra traffic attracted by the Weedon Hill housing development.[4] The housing development is controversially being built on the tract of land where the battle took place.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Text of the Charter of Incorporation
- ^ Account of the Battle of Aylesbury
- ^ Genuki: The Battle of Aylesbury
- ^ Watermead Parish Council News
- ^ BBC coverage of controversy over the Weedon Hill housing development