Wikipedia

List of crossings of the River Tees

The River Tees forms the traditional border between Yorkshire and County Durham, passes through the Teesside Urban area built-up area, and has many crossings. The natural low-lying landscape of the surrounding landscape together with the development of shipping on the water way has led a number of unusual bridges being built.[1]

Model of the River Tees, in the former park "Natures World", in 2009, with models of Transporter Bridge (left) and Newport Bridge (right), with the Riverside Stadium in the centre

History of crossings edit

An early crossing of the Tees was made by the Romans, with the construction of a bridge at Piercebridge, along with a corresponding fortress.[2] The bridge was built on the route of Dere Street, and as a result it likely saw a great deal of military traffic going between the fortress at York and the northern frontier.[3] It was first built in wood around 90 AD, before being rebuilt in stone, possibly when the first bridge washed away. The use of the bridge may of continued into the sub-Roman period.[2]

Crossings of the Tees continued to be important in the journey from north to south, and vice versa, along the east coast, during the medieval period.[4] During the 13th century it was described as "the major obstacle to speedy travel out of the diocese of Durham southwards", with the contemporary fords, bridges and ferries proving particularly inconvenient in the winter period.[5] This included the Great North Road, for which the Croft Bridge was built in the 13th or 14th centuries. Yarm bridge was built around 1400, by bishop Skirlaw.[4]

In 1771 a major flood on the Tees, along with others in the North-East, caused major damage to the river's bridges, completely destroying some. The Wynch Bridge, Supposedly the oldest suspension bridge in Europe, dating from 1741, was lifted from its moorings. The bridge in Gilmonby was recorded as being destroyed after having only been fully operational for 3 years. On the other hand, The medieval Yarm bridge was not affected by the flood, despite every other building in the town being damaged.[6]

 
1830 illustration of the Stockton Railway Suspension Bridge, the first railway suspension bridge in the world, on the site of today's Surtees Rail Bridge.[7]

With the industrialisation of the area through the 19th century, many new bridges where needed closer to the ports mouth.[5] When the Stockton and Darlington railway, first opened in 1825, it was realised that the staiths at Stockton where two small to export the desired amount of coal. The decision was made to start exporting closer to the rivers mouth on the other bank, at Port Darlington (later Middlesbrough). This required the building of the first suspension railway bridge.[a] This moved the commercial centre of gravity of Teesside further down stream, where many future bridges would be built.[7]

By the end of that century there were 21 principal firms on and adjacent to the Tees in the Stockton and Thornaby area, with 36 firms in the Middlesbrough area. This led to the development of two of the most famous bridges on the river, The Transporter Bridge, in 1911, and the Newport Bridge, in 1934, both trying to balance the needs of travellers across the river with shipping up and down it.[5]

List edit

Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

The following is a list of crossings of the River Tees, heading downstream, from source to its mouth in the North Sea. This including road, rail, pipe and foot/cycle bridges and fords.[8][9]

Source to Barnard Castle edit

Crossing Type Coordinates Opened Notes Photo
Moor House Bridge  Road bridge54°41′57″N 2°22′23″W 
Birkdale footbridge  Footbridge54°39′13″N 2°17′23″W1966Just downstream from Cow Green reservoir[10] 
Cronkley Bridge  Bridge54°39′33″N 2°12′55″WPrivate road bridge 
Holwick Head Bridge  Footbridge54°38′59″N 2°10′25″W1998 
Wynch Bridge  Footbridge, suspension bridge54°38′46″N 2°9′2″W[12]1830[13]The original suspension bridge built on this spot was finished in 1741, was the first of its kind in Britain. That bridge was washed away in the Great Flood of 1771, with 2 more bridges being subsequently built there.[11] 
Scoberry Bridge  Footbridge54°38′28″N 2°8′26″W1971 
Middleton Bridge  Bridge54°37′21″N 2°5′3″W[14][15]1853B6277 road 
Beckstones Wath Footbridge  Footbridge54°36′47″N 2°2′16″W2002 
Eggleston Bridge  Road bridge54°36′15″N 2°0′24″W[16]1450sB6281 road 
Cotherstone Bridge  Footbridge54°34′38″N 1°58′51″W1932 

Barnard Castle to Piercebridge edit

Crossing Type Coordinates Opened Notes Photo
Deepdale Aqueduct  Aqueduct, footbridge54°32′45″N 1°55′50″W[18][19]1893Victorian footbridge that also carries a pipe for water over the River [17] 
Barnard Castle Bridge  Road bridge54°32′34″N 1°55′38″W[20][21][22]1569A67 road 
Thorngate Footbridge  Footbridge54°32′21″N 1°55′33″W[23]1881 
Abbey Bridge  Road bridge54°31′47″N 1°53′57″W[24]1773Unclassified and unnamed road linking Abbey Rd to Westwick Road 
Whorlton Bridge  Road bridge, suspension bridge54°31′35″N 1°50′12″W[25][26][27]1831unclassified and unnamed road 
Winston Bridge  Road bridge54°32′29″N 1°46′52″W[28][29]1760sB6274 road 
West Tees Railway Bridge  Railway viaduct54°33′3″N 1°45′27″W1856Part of the former Darlington and Barnard Castle Railway[30] 
Gainford Railway Bridge  Railway viaduct54°32′52″N 1°44′47″W1856
Barforth Hall Bridge  Private bridge54°32′43″N 1°44′42″W1950sprivate road bridge 

Piercebridge to Yarm edit

Crossing Type Coordinates Opened Notes Photo
Piercebridge Pipe Bridge  Pipe bridge54°32′7″N 1°41′19″W1956water pipe 
Piercebridge Bridge  Road bridge54°32′5″N 1°40′33″W[31][32][33]16th century[31][32][33]B6275 road 
A1(M) Bridge, Low Coniscliffe  Highway bridge54°30′55″N 1°37′18″W1961
Blackwell Bridge  Road bridge54°30′29″N 1°35′3″W[34]1832A66 road
Croft Bridge  Road bridge54°28′59″N 1°33′16″W[35][36]15th centuryA167 road 
Tees Railway Bridge  Railway bridge54°28′38″N 1°33′10″W[37][38]1840East Coast Main Line 
Low Hail Bridge  Private bridge, road bridge54°29′7″N 1°31′20″W1870s 
Neasham Hall Bridge  Footbridge, private bridge54°28′42″N 1°29′56″W[39]1909 
Girsby Bridge  Footbridge54°28′7″N 1°27′31″W1870 
Fishlocks Bridge  Footbridge, private bridge54°29′2″N 1°27′36″W1910s
Over Dinsdale Bridge  Bridge54°29′47″N 1°28′2″W1830sUnclassified and unnamed road 

Yarm to the river mouth edit

Crossing Type Coordinates Opened Notes Photo
Yarm Viaduct  Railway viaduct54°30′42″N 1°21′25″W[40]15 May 1852North TransPennine Line 
Yarm Bridge  Road bridge54°30′43″N 1°21′21″W[41][42]1400s[43]A67 road 
Preston Pipe Bridge  Pipeline bridge54°32′2″N 1°19′23″W1959Water pipe 
Jubilee Bridge  Road bridge54°32′6″N 1°19′16″W20 Apr 2002Carrying Queen Elizabeth Way 
Surtees Bridge  Road bridge54°33′16″N 1°18′39″W3 Dec 2007A66 road 
Surtees Rail Bridge  Railway bridge54°33′17″N 1°18′39″W2009Tees Valley Line 
Victoria Bridge  Road bridge54°33′30″N 1°18′25″W20 Jun 1887A1130 road 
Teesquay Millennium Footbridge  Footbridge54°33′45″N 1°18′35″W20 Dec 2000 
Princess of Wales Bridge  Road bridge54°33′57″N 1°18′26″W23 Sep 1992Carrying Teesdale Boulevard 
Infinity Bridge  Tied-arch bridge, footbridge54°33′53″N 1°17′57″W16 May 2009Foot and cycle 
Tees Barrage  footbridge, dam, Lock54°33′52″N 1°17′10″W22 Apr 1995Road, cycle and foot 
Tees Viaduct  Road bridge, overpass54°34′4″N 1°16′4″WNov 1975A19 road 
Tees Newport Bridge  Vertical-lift bridge, road bridge54°34′19″N 1°15′41″W28 Feb 1934A1032 road 
Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge  Transporter bridge54°35′4″N 1°13′41″W[44]17 Oct 1911A178 road 

See also edit

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Due to design flaws, this first bridge swayed far to much and had to be supported by wooden "Starlings". Even still the sway was so much that wagons had chained 9 meters apart so that weight was distributed evenly across the bridge.[7]

Citations edit

  1. ^ "Bridges over the Tees" (PDF). myice.ice.org.uk. Institute of Civil Engineers. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b Fitzpatrick, A. P.; Scott, Peter R. (1999). "The Roman Bridge at Piercebridge, North Yorkshire-County Durham". Britannia. 30: 111–132. doi:10.2307/526675. JSTOR 526675. S2CID 162361828.
  3. ^ "Bridge over troubled water: Roman finds from the Tees at Piercebridge and beyond | The Past". The Past. Current Archarology. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  4. ^ a b Harrison, David (7 October 2004). The Bridges of Medieval England: Transport and Society 400-1800. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-155679-1.
  5. ^ a b c Warwick, Tosh. "The Politics of Bridge Building: The Long Wait for the Tees (Newport) Bridge". Cleveland & Teesside Local History Society. 1 January 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  6. ^ Rennison, Robert William (2019). "The Great Inundation of 1771 and the Rebuilding of the North-East's Bridges" (PDF). Archaeologia Aeliana. 29: 269291. doi:10.5284/1061067. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Betteney, Alan (2019). "Crossing the Tees: Fords, Ferries and Bridges" (PDF). River Tees Rediscovered. Tees Archaeology: 31–32. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Bridges on the Tees". Bridges on the Tyne. 2001. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  9. ^ "OpenData support | OS Tools & Support".
  10. ^ "Birkdale Footbridge". Bridges on the Tyne. 2001. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  11. ^ White, Andrew (13 February 2022). "What's the story behind County Durham's wobbly bridge - and its tragic history?". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  12. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1121562)". National Heritage List for England.
  13. ^ "Winch Bridge". Bridges On The Tyne.
  14. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1160160)". National Heritage List for England.
  15. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1203554)". National Heritage List for England.
  16. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1121638)". National Heritage List for England.
  17. ^ "Deepdale Footbridge". www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  18. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1291706)". National Heritage List for England.
  19. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1310593)". National Heritage List for England.
  20. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1121647)". National Heritage List for England.
  21. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1201056)". National Heritage List for England.
  22. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1002353)". National Heritage List for England.
  23. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1291732)". National Heritage List for England.
  24. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1310824)". National Heritage List for England.
  25. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1160013)". National Heritage List for England.
  26. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1322762)". National Heritage List for England.
  27. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1002299)". National Heritage List for England.
  28. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1121747)". National Heritage List for England.
  29. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1323060)". National Heritage List for England.
  30. ^ "West Tees Railway Bridge". www.bridgesonthetyne.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  31. ^ a b Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1131363)". National Heritage List for England.
  32. ^ a b Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1145843)". National Heritage List for England.
  33. ^ a b Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1002344)". National Heritage List for England.
  34. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1121318)". National Heritage List for England.
  35. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1116440)". National Heritage List for England.
  36. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1131364)". National Heritage List for England.
  37. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1131366)". National Heritage List for England.
  38. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1299454)". National Heritage List for England.
  39. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1299423)". National Heritage List for England.
  40. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1139259)". National Heritage List for England.
  41. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1105658)". National Heritage List for England.
  42. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1006763)". National Heritage List for England.
  43. ^ "Yarm Bridge". Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.
  44. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1139267)". National Heritage List for England.

External links edit

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_crossings_of_the_River_Tees&oldid=1178166743"