Clopton Bridge
Clopton Bridge is located in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
It is a Grade I listed masonry arch bridge with 14 pointed arches, which spans the River Avon, crossing at the place where the river was forded in Saxon times, and which gave the town its name. The bridge carries the A3400 road over the river.
The bridge was built in 1486/7,[citation needed] in the reign of Henry VII, financed by Hugh Clopton of Clopton House, who later became Lord Mayor of London. It replaced a timber bridge which may have dated back to 1318.[1] Two arches were rebuilt in 1524. The bridge was again repaired in 1588 following flooding, and in 1642 after an arch had been destroyed to block the army of Oliver Cromwell. In 1696, money was raised to heighten the parapets, which were as low as four inches in places. The bridge was widened on the north side (upstream) in 1811, and a ten-sided toll-house tower added in 1814. A cast-iron footbridge was added to the north side in 1827.[2]
John Leland described the bridge as:[1]
a great and sumptuous Bridge upon Avon at the East Ende of the Towne, which hath 14 great Arches of Stone and long Causey made of Stone, low walled on each side, at the West Ende of the Bridge.
The bridge is now a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[3]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Jervoise, E., The Ancient Bridges of Wales and Western England, EP Publishing Ltd, 1976, ISBN 0-7158-1152-5, first published 1936
- ^ Richards, J.M., The National Trust Book of Bridges, Jonathan Cape, 1984, ISBN 0-224-02106-0
- ^ Historic England. "CLOPTON BRIDGE AND ATTACHED FORMER TOLL HOUSE (1204167)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
Coordinates: 52°11′30″N 1°42′01″W / 52.19155°N 1.70031°W
External links[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clopton Bridge. |
- The annotated "Clopton Bridge"; English Folk Dance
 | This article about a Warwickshire building or structure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by . |
 | This article about a bridge in the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by . |
- Bridges in Warwickshire
- Bridges completed in 1480
- Arch bridges in the United Kingdom
- Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Warwickshire
- Grade I listed buildings in Warwickshire
- Former toll bridges in England
- Buildings and structures in Stratford-upon-Avon
- 1480 establishments in England
- Warwickshire building and structure stubs
- United Kingdom bridge (structure) stubs