Thornborough Bridge

Thornborough Bridge
View from the south
Coordinates	51°59′33″N 0°56′22″W
Carries	Pedestrians (from 1974) A421 road (pre-1974)
Crosses	Padbury Brook, tributary of River Great Ouse
Locale	Buckingham/Thornborough parish border, Buckinghamshire
Heritage status	Grade I listed structure
Characteristics
Material	Stone
Total length	30m (approx)
Width	4m (approx)
No. of spans	6
Piers in water	3
History
Opened	14th century
Location

Thornborough Bridge is situated on the original Bletchley to Buckingham road, now bypassed by a modern bridge in 1974 for the A421. The bridge is accessible to pedestrians from an adjacent lay-by.

The bridge straddles the parish boundaries of Thornborough and Buckingham, where the parish boundary follows the line of Padbury Brook (also known as The Twins), a tributary of the River Great Ouse. Dating back to the end of the 14th century,[1][2] it is the only surviving mediaeval bridge in Buckinghamshire. The parish division is marked by a boundary stone in the middle of the bridge.[3]

The stone bridge measures approximately 30 m (98 ft) long and 4 m (13 ft) wide, spanning the river with six low arches .[4] Three refuges are formed within the parapet on the south side.

The bridge is Grade I listed by English Heritage.[5]

References

1. "Thornborough Bridge, Buckingham". Transport Heritage. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
2. AVDC information board on-site "dates to 1400"
3. "Parishes: Thornborough". A History of the County of Buckingham. Victoria History of the Counties of England. Vol. 4. 1927. pp. 237–242. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
4. "Plate 71: Thornborough and Buckingham, Thornborough Bridge". An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Buckinghamshire, Volume 2, North. 1913. p. 71. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
5. "Thornborough Bridge, Buckingham". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 23 January 2015.

External links

Media related to Thornborough Bridge, Buckinghamshire at Wikimedia Commons