Bridges of York
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There are nine bridges across the River Ouse within the city of York, England. The earliest bridge, built by the Romans, linked Stonegate (the via praetoria of the Roman fortress) and Micklegate, and crossed the river approximately where the Guildhall now is. Its replacement, Ouse Bridge, was a wooden bridge built about 350 metres downstream by the Vikings. It has been rebuilt three times, most recently between 1810 and 1820. The Scarborough Railway Bridge of 1845 was the second bridge to be built, and it was followed by two more road bridges, Lendal Bridge in 1863 and Skeldergate Bridge in 1882. The Millennium Bridge, a footbridge, was added in 2001. There are also Clifton Bridge in the northern suburbs of the city, two modern fly-overs carrying the outer ring road, and the former railway bridge at Naburn, which is now part of the York-Selby cycle path.
North to south, the bridges are:
- The A1237 Outer Ring Road
- Clifton Bridge (1963)
- Scarborough Railway Bridge (1844)
- Lendal Bridge (1863)
- Ouse Bridge (1821)
- Skeldergate Bridge (1881)
- Millennium Bridge (2001)
- The A64 Outer Ring Road
- Naburn railway bridge (now a cycle and pedestrian path)
There are also numerous bridges across the smaller River Foss, notably the Blue Bridge, near the confluence with the Ouse, and the Georgian Foss Bridge, which links Fossgate and Walmgate.
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[edit] The Bridges
[edit] Ouse Bridge
The original Roman bridge over the Ouse was eventually replaced by a wooden bridge built further downstream by the Vikings. In 1154, it collapsed under the weight of a crowd which had gathered to greet St William of York on his return from exile. It was replaced by a stone bridge, but part of this was swept away by floods in the winter of 1564-5. The repaired bridge of 1565 had a new central arch spanning 81ft, and was described by Defoe as "...near 70 foot [21 m] in diameter; it is, without exception, the greatest in England, some say it's as large as the Rialto at Venice, though I think not." This bridge was dismantled between 1810 and 1818 in order to make way for the New Ouse Bridge, designed by Peter Atkinson the younger, completed in 1821.[1]
[edit] Scarborough Railway Bridge
The second bridge across the Ouse was the Scarborough Railway Bridge, built in 1845 to carry the railway line between York and Scarborough (now the Scarborough branch of the North TransPennine route). Originally it had two tracks with a pedestrian path in between them. In 1875 the track was raised 4 feet (1.2 m) and the footpath moved to the south side, where it remains today.
[edit] Lendal Bridge
Lendal Bridge was built by Thomas Page in 1863 and is an iron bridge with Gothic features. It links Station Road with Museum Street and thus York railway station with York Minster, and is part of York's Inner Ring Road. At both ends of the bridge stand towers, Barker Tower to the west and Lendal Tower to the east. A rope ferry previously existed at this location.
[edit] Skeldergate Bridge
Skeldergate Bridge links the York Castle area and the old bailey at Baile Hill. It was built as a toll bridge between 1878 and 1880 (architect: George Gordon Page). A small arch by the former tollhouse at the east end of the bridge was originally designed to open so that tall ships could sail up to the quays on either side of the river between Skeldergate and Ouse Bridges. Skeldergate Bridge was formally declared free of tolls on April 1, 1914.
[edit] Millennium Bridge
The Millennium Bridge was opened on 10 April 2001, having cost £4.2m to build. It spans the River Ouse to the south of York, linking Hospital Fields Road and Maple Grove in Fulford with Butcher Terrace on the South Bank. The bridge carries a footpath and cycle path and is not open to vehicular traffic. The bridge shortened the walk for students from houses in the South Bank to the University of York (they previously had to walk via Skeldergate Bridge).
The bridge also acts a meeting place for local people, as it has a waist height shelf spanning the whole structure which facilitates sitting and admiring the view.
Supplies for Fulford Barracks were brought in by river near this location, and the remains of a narrow gauge railway may be seen on the eastern bank of the river a few metres toward the city. There used to be a rope ferry at this location as well.
 The Millennium Bridge from Fulford. |
 Below the bridge from Fulford. |
 Millennium Bridge |
[edit] Naburn Railway Bridge
Outside the outer ring-road, the Naburn bridge used to carry the York-Selby railway until it was diverted in 1984. It is also known as the "Fisherman Bridge" due to a large metal sculpture of a fisherman sitting on top which was added in 2000 as part of the York Council "Creative Communities 2000" scheme [1].
[edit] Clifton Bridge
A temporary bridge at Clifton was built by the British Army in 1961 on the site of an old ferry crossing in order to handle additional vehicle traffic caused by the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Kent at York Minster. A permanent bridge was opened officially on 28 October 1963. The bridge is built from 4,000 tons of concrete and 50 tons of reinforced steel[2], [3].
[edit] References
- The Fairest Arch in England: Old Ouse Bridge, York, and its Buildings ISBN 1-874454-26-4
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; and Neave, David [1972] (1995). Yorkshire: York and the East Riding, 2nd edition, London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-071061-2.
