Building record 2427/1/1 - South Bridge, Crowthorpe Bridge

This bridge crosses the Nene just south of Oundle. It consists of seven arches and has a narrow carriageway. All arches are simple unribbed tunnel-vaults. The parapets and cutwaters have been heavily repaired over the years. The three north arches seem to be medieval and the four south arches may well be 18th century.

{1} Bridge. C18th with earlier origins; reputed to have been built late C18 (but more likely to have been rebuilt or repaired). Squared coursed limestone with ashlar dressings. 7 semi-circular arches (it has 7 spans with 4 semi-elliptical arches and 3 at the north end segmental). The 3 arches at north end are segmental and may be of the earliest build. 2 cutwaters, with refuge, on west side. Plain parapet built of coursed rubble with chamfered saddlestone coping on the parapet walls. Maximum width between the parapets is 16ft 7 inches.

{3} The South Bridge is constructed of stone, but with some later (brick) repair. It is still in operation as a bridge.

{4} A road from Thrapston on the south crosses the River Nene by the South or Crowthorp Bridge, which has six round keystoned arches and a plain sloped coping, but is of no architectural interest. There were formerly two stone crosses on the old bridge, 12ft apart, the bridge extending "20ft from one cross to the north and 40ft from the other to the south".

{5} Bridge shown on map.

{7} Bridge over River Nene is stone built with 6 semi-arches; it was mentioned in inquest of 1312;

{9} Medieval bridge is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

{10} There were formerly two crosses, 12ft apart, on the old South or Crowthorpe Bridge, the bridge extending 20ft north of the one and 40ft south of the other. The bridge was extant in 1312.

{12} A watching brief was arranged during partial reconstruction of the stone-built bridge on the A605, just south of Oundle. It was evident that, at some stage in its history, the stone bridge had been increased in width.

{14} The Abbot further promoted trade in the town by building the north and south bridges. In an enquiry of 1329 it was stated that formerly there had been no common way through Oundle, due to inundation. Therefore the Abbot had built the bridges and causeways and had been granted the toll of the bridges for their maintenance in recognition. The tolls were: ‘each sack of wool 2d, each horse 1/2d, bundle on a man’s back 1/4d, cartload of merchandise 2d.’ Pontage grants are then recorded in 1352 with regular renewals until 1401.
South or Crowthorpe Bridge lay immediately to the east of the watermill, at the south end of Mill Lane. This road was probably in existence by the late 10th century when the mill is first recorded, but the bridge did not exist at that time, having been added, probably in the 12th century, probably replacing Basford as the main point of entry to the town from the south.
Leland described it as of five great arches and two small but revised this with 16. It existed by 1312, built of stone and mortar, and although it had no chapel, two crosses stood upon the bridge. It is shown in elevation on the 1716 map of Barnwell. It is described by VCH as bridge of six round arches ‘of no architectural interest’.

{15} In August 2011 Cotswold Archaeology carried out an historic building investigation of Oundle South Bridge. This carries the road to Thrapston across the River Nene, just south of the town centre. Concerns have arisen over its structural integrity and the bridge is now closed to vehicular traffic. Before a repair programme is instigated, English Heritage have required an historic building investigation to inform any repair programme. It was suspected that there was a medieval core to the bridge, and that the bridge was probably of largely 18th-century date in its present form. The investigation confirmed that there was an older core in the northern three arches, that these had been widened, and that the southern four arches were a later and narrower replacement of an earlier structure. Mortar comparisons, stratigraphic analysis and stylistic observations allowed a phasing of the various parts of the bridge to be achieved. Historical evidence suggests a date of before 1312 for the oldest part of the bridge. A later medieval date for the earlier core, an early post-medieval date for the widening and an 18th-century date for the southern end rebuilding are suggested. Detailed observation of the masonry indicated much repair work of various periods, including a large amount of repointing in cementitious mortars.

{17} Four test pits were excavated through the road surface on the South Bridge to investigate the backfill materials over arch 3 and the adjacent piers. This was required to facilitate the understanding of the condition of the structure and to inform, if required, the strategy for strengthening Arch 3 of the bridge to increase its traffic carrying capacity.
Source contains detailed descriptions of layers of material present in each test pit.
The evaluation demonstrated that the structure of the historic core of the bridge over arch 3 was undisturbed and the layers of made ground firm. The test pits over the later widened part of the bridge showed that although there were fewer layers of made ground, those which were present were firm and again undisturbed.

{18} Undated photo;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 4/67+8/16 (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G10+H16 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN41470.

<3> Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Oundle (Industrial), (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN100257.

<4> Page W. (ed), 1930, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.85 (checked) (Series). SNN100370.

<5> Markham C.A., 1901, The Stone Crosses of Northamptonshire, p.92 (unchecked) (Report). SNN5725.

<6> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, p.1 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN44215.

<7> Goodfellow P., 1998, Northamptonshire Bridges, (unchecked) (Gazetteer). SNN42745.

<8> Foard G.R., 1998, Photographs, (unchecked) (Photographs). SNN52274.

<9> English Heritage, English Heritage Scheduling Notes, (unchecked) (Report). SNN51919.

<10> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, TL08NW26 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<11> Hall, D (Ed), 1979, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (9), p.52 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN28703.

<12> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1979, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1978, p.108 (unchecked) (Article). SNN45225.

<13> Foard G.; Ballinger J.;, 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Oundle, Section 3.6 Industry (Report). SNN102637.

<14> Foard G.; Ballinger J.;, 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Oundle, Section 3.7.1 Major Routes (Report). SNN102637.

<15> Davenport, P., 2011, Oundle South Bridge, Oundle, Northamptonshire: Historic Building Investigation, (checked) (Report). SNN108424.

<16> Horne B. (Editor), 2012, South Midlands Archaeology (42), 42/27 (checked) (Journal). SNN108346.

<17> Upson-Smith T., 2014, Archaeological Test Pit Evaluation of South Bridge, Oundle, Northamptonshire May 2014, (checked) (Report). SNN109632.

<18> Photographs of buildings in Barnwell (Photographs). SNN111911.

<19> Historic England, Undated, CROWTHORPE BRIDGE, OUNDLE, BF032697 (Archive). SNN116145.

Record last edited

Feb 28 2024 2:27PM