Darwin College Bridges

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Darwin College Bridges
Crosses River Cam
Locale Darwin College, Cambridge
Preceded by Crusoe Bridge
Followed by Silver Street Bridge
Characteristics
Design truss bridge and beam bridge
MaterialWood

Darwin College Bridges are the fourth and fifth river Cam bridges overall and two first bridges on its middle stream in Cambridge. [1] Bridges made of timber connect the college grounds with the college's two islands. [2] [3]

Contents

History

In 1886 George Darwin and his family moved into 3 Silver Street, at that time a detached house, and named it Newnham Grange. Having also named the island to the rear of the house "Little Island" to distinguish it from the larger island between it and the Mill Pond, they requested permission to build a bridge and obtained a 25-year lease to the islands from the city corporation. The resulting footbridge appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1888, having been built by Mr Saint for £12.10s. [4] [5] A second bridge joining Little Island to Big Island was also built prior to 1901, crossing small side channels. [6]

The house and bridges became part of Darwin College in 1964.

See also

References

  1. "The definitive ranking of every bridge in Cambridge". Varsity Online.
  2. "Wooden bridge in the grounds of Darwin College, Cambridge | RIBA". RIBApix.
  3. "Darwin College Cambridge". Dark Heart Travel. 7 August 2015.
  4. "Little Island, Cambridge". Capturing Cambridge.
  5. Ordnance Survey, Cambridgeshire Sheet XLVII.NW (1888)
  6. Ordnance Survey, Cambridgeshire Sheet XLVII.2 (1901)