Eddisford Bridge, Clitheroe

A warm day takes me on now a rare outing to this wonderful Lancashire town and its River Ribble walk. Here we are at the start of our five mile round walk along both sides of this splendid river, seen here in drought conditions with my new Tokina 11-16mm. The bridge is the very old Edisford Bridge.

About Edisford Bridge, Clitheroe
Edisford Bridge incorporates the structure of a five arched bridge possibly dating from 1339, when a grant of pontage was made. Today the bridge has nine spans and is considerably wider than the original. It is thought that a timber bridge had been constructed on the same spot before that date. Edisford - "the nobleman's ford" or Anglo-Saxon nobleman - was the scene of an 1139 battle, where King David of Scotland's army fought and defeated the less numerous Lancastrians.

The 1339 bridge was 2.44m wide, later widened by 3.65m on the downstream side. It had pointed cutwaters. Its arches were Gothic in shape and each had three ribs. These can still be seen under the main arch. The four arches to the east (nearest Clitheroe) span the river, the others are over the meadow. The first is a squared Gothic ribbed arch made of sandstone. It spans 7.5m and rises 2.6m. The second span is the largest. It is a segmental circular arch, measuring 17.95m across and rising 4.2m. The next two arches are Gothic and ribbed, spanning 7.6m and 7.7m, and rising 2.47m and 2.56m. The following five spans are over land. Starting at the river, they measure 7.8m, 4.3m, 3m, 3m and 2.9m. Their rises are 1.85m, 1.7m, 1.4m, 1.2m and one metre. All are segmental circular arches.

The bridge is located about a mile west of Clitheroe Castle and is the subject of a noted painting by Turner.
www.transporttrust.com/heritage