Bridges 2023, Coventry, 8-9 March

This page contains resources needed for the workshop on masonry bridge diagnosis taking place at 14:00 on 9 March at Bridges 2023.

The main resources for the session (right click to open in new tab) are:

Some more background information:

The Stratford-Alcester and Stratford-Evesham main roads run respectively north and south of the village, which is connected with the former by a branch road to Red Hill (with cross-roads to Grafton and Billesley about a mile from the church) and with the latter by two parallel roads. The more westerly of these is continued southwards over the Avon by Binton bridge, or rather bridges, at a point where the river forms two small islands. (fn. 2) There has been a bridge here since the 13th century (fn. 3) and this was most probably the crossing used by Charles II on his flight from Worcester. Until about 1780 the bridges were only wide enough for horse and foot traffic and extended only to the southernmost island, the passage to the Welford side being continued through a ford. The ford became impassable and c. 1783 William Silvester, one of the tenants, pulled down the old bridge and built a series of small bridges, just wide enough for wagons, which carried the road right across the river. He also erected a toll gate at the south end. Silvester's bridge, being without parapets, was the scene of frequent accidents and in times of flood might be submerged for weeks together. In 1807, therefore, the inhabitants of Welford and the neighbourhood petitioned for the building of a county bridge. The petition failed, but a subscription was raised and the work carried out, probably by William Hunt, between 1804 and 1809. The bridge now consists of twelve arches, of which the five southernmost seem to date wholly from that time. The stonework of the remainder is substantially that of Silvester's bridge, though on the east side there is some earlier masonry and possible traces of two cutwaters, belonging no doubt to the packhorse bridge that preceded it. Silvester's four arches have been increased to seven, but the parapet of this portion consists only of posts and rails. The course of the road towards Binton was altered at the time of the rebuilding. When the Avon was navigable there was a wharf against the north-western side of the causeway, but subsequent silting has removed all traces of it. (fn. 4)