Grassington Bridge

The bridge, in 2017

Grassington Bridge is a historic bridge across the River Wharfe in Grassington, a town in North Yorkshire, in England.

In the late Mediaeval period, there was a timber bridge across the Wharfe from Grassington to Threshfield, known as Linton Bridge. In 1603, it was replaced by a humpbacked stone bridge.[1][2] The bridge was repaired in 1661, and widened from 10 feet (3.0 m) to 24 feet (7.3 m) in 1780. In 1824, the road surface was raised, so that it was no longer humpbacked, and the parapets were rebuilt.[1] It was grade II listed in 1954.[3] In 1984, a cantilevered footpath was added to the upstream side.[2] A legend states that under one of the abutments of the bridge are the irons which held the skeleton of the murdered Tom Lee.[4]

The bridge carries Station Road, the B6265,[3] while the Dales Way passes its north-eastern end.[1] The bridge is built of gritstone, and consists of four segmental arches with recessed voussoirs, and is about 50 metres (160 ft) long. It has pointed cutwaters carried up as pilasters, a string course, a band, and a parapet with slightly ridged coping.[3][5]

  1. ^ a b c McFetrich, David (2019). An Encyclopaedia of British Bridges. Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 9781526752963.
  2. ^ a b Marsh, Terry (2024). Walking the Dales Way. Cicerone Press. ISBN 9781783628759.
  3. ^ a b c Historic England. "Grassington Bridge (1316846)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  4. ^ Robertshaw, John (1882). Tom Lee: A Tale of Wharfedale. Edmondson and Company.
  5. ^ Leach, Peter; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2009). Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North. The Buildings of England. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-12665-5.