Cleveland Bridge
Cleveland Bridge, in Bath, was built as a cast iron arch bridge. It has unusual lodges that adorn each corner in a style that could be likened to miniature Greek temples.
Cleveland Bridge links the A4/London Road in Bath with the A36 via Bathwick Street, at the point where it is joined by St John's Road.
It was built in 1827 by William Hazledine with Henry Goodridge as the architect, on the site of a Roman ferry crossing.
Named after the 3rd Duke of Cleveland, it spans the River Avon at Bathwick, and enabled further development of Georgian Bath to take place on the south side of the river. It was designed to take the traffic of his day, horse drawn vehicles and pedestrians, and was constructed using the warm golden Bath Stone and an elegant cast iron arched span.
A toll house was required to charge users of the bridge for the privilege of crossing. Rather than building merely one, Goodridge decided to install four — one on each corner — in order to maintain the absolute symmetry of his elegant neoclassical design. He provided each of these lodges with columns fronting onto the bridge, giving them the appearance of small ancient temples. Only one of the four (Number 1 next to St John's Road) was actually used as a toll house; the rest were always let to private tenants as small dwellings or shops.
The bridge was constructed using funds subscribed by numerous local wealthy citizens to a specially formed Bathwick Bridge Co with a view to investors making a return on investment through the toll charges.
An Act of Parliament was required and, in a move which would later prove the undoing of the company, the level of the toll was fixed at one penny. Unfortunately for the shareholders of the Bathwick Bridge Company, inflation took hold during the 19th century and, by the early 20th century, a one penny toll was not worth much. By the 1920s, the revenues from tolls no longer covered the costs of operating and maintaining the bridge.
The Bath Corporation Act of 1925 allowed the City Council to take over the bridge from the now bankrupt Bathwick Bridge Company. To much celebration, it was freed it from tolls for all traffic on 20 June 1927 and extensively restored during 1928 and 1929.
1929 the bridge was strengthened with 4 substantial reinforced concrete trusses between the cast iron arches to support heavier combustion-engined vehicles.[1]
1929 'TALE OF TWO BRIDGES ENGINEERS' INTERESTING DAY IN BATH. A UNIQUE STRUCTURE.
Bath can now boast of bridge which probably unique and certainly has no parallel in this country. It is the reconstructed Cleveland Bridge (linking Bathwick with Walcot), the re-opening of which to vehicular traffic may be expected in few weeks' time. A party of about sixty experts, members of the South-Western District of the Institution of Municipal and County Engineers and visitors from other districts, inspected the new work on Saturday afternoon, and found much to interest them. To the ordinary citizen the bridge will probably appear much the same as before its reconstruction, but if he got down among the girders under the roadway, as most of the visitors did, he would see why the word "unique" can be appiied. A complete, new, reinforced concrete girder bridge has been placed between, but not in contact with, the original cast-iron ribs. In other words, a bridge has been built inside a bridge.
UNORTHODOX STRENGTHENING. Originally named Bathwick Bridge, it was the property of the Bathwick Bridge Company, from whom it was purchased in 1925 in order that it might freed from toll. It was found that it was not strong enough to carry unlimited traffic, and it has now been strengthened to carry the system of loading imposed by the Ministry, of Transport for class 'A' bridges. It was intended to effect the strengthening by encasing the five inner ribs and spandrels in reinforced concrete, but it was deemed advisable to depart from that plan. The new bridge relieves the cast-iron structure of all live load from the carriageway but the footways are carried by the cast-iron road plates before. These and more technical details were explained to the party by Mr. R. Hazzeldine of the City Engineer's Department, who has been acting as resident engineer. Tho design was made by Mr. G. R. Robertson, of the same department, under the supervision of Mr. F. P. Sissons, the City Engineer, and the work has been carried out by Messrs. Lotz and Kier, Stoke-on-Trent.
GROSVENOR BRIDGE.
The other bridge with which the visitors were concerned was the Bridge, or rather, what will be the bridge; at the moment it is in the early stages of development and consists mainly of wooden piles. While many regret the passing of the old suspension bridge, the new structure will no less imposing, although not of the suspension type, and certainiy a great deal more practical. ...'
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette - Saturday 23 March 1929
After the Second World War, a shortage of cash and materials and a general lack of interest in Bath's architecture meant that the fabric of the bridge was neglected.
By the 1980s, three out of four of the lodges were derelict and concerned at the neglect of this unique structure by its owners, Bath and North East Somerset Council, a group of local individuals formed a charity (the Bath Historical Buildings Trust) to take a very long lease on three of the lodges and to restore them so that they could once again become homes for people.
The 1929 reinforcements detract from the original appearance, but the impact is limited as there are NO PUBLIC PLACES from which to get a good view of this historic bridge.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [2] Wikipedia