Framwellgate Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 54°46′34″N1°34′41″W / 54.7761°N 1.5781°W |
OS grid reference | NZ272424 |
Carries | Pedestrians |
Crosses | River Wear |
Locale | City of Durham, County Durham, England |
Heritage status | Grade I listed |
Preceded by | Prebends Bridge |
Followed by | Milburngate Bridge |
Characteristics | |
Design | Two segmental arches with seven reinforcing ribs. Central pier with cutwaters. Possible third arch (no longer visible). |
Material | Stone |
Total length | 2 main spans total 30 yd (27 m) |
Width | 27 ft (8.2 m) |
No. of spans | 2 known; probably 3 total |
Piers in water | 1 |
History | |
Construction start | After 1400 |
Construction end | 15th century |
Replaces | Stone bridge built circa 1120 |
Location | |
Framwellgate Bridge is a mediaeval masonry arch bridge across the River Wear, in Durham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. [1]
The bridge was built after 1400 to replace one built early in the 12th century for Ranulf Flambard, who was Bishop of Durham 1099–1128. [2] Flambard's bridge seems to have had five or six arches. [3] A record of a lawsuit in 1437 records that Flambard's bridge:
...was broken by a flood during the Festival of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1400. [2]
Until the replacement bridge was completed a ferry was substituted, the profit from which was shared between the Bishop of Durham and the Prior of Durham Cathedral Priory. [2]
The current bridge is of two shallow arches, each with several reinforcing ribs. [3] Their combined span is about 30 yards (27 m). [3] The early 16th-century antiquary John Leland recorded that there were three arches. [3] A watercolour of Durham Cathedral painted by Thomas Girtin in 1799 shows a third arch, with a rounded shape [3] characteristic of Norman architecture. Buildings at the central Durham end of the bridge may conceal the third arch, which may be a surviving part of Flambard's original 12th-century bridge. [3]
Some sources indicate that both ends of the bridge were fortified by towers and gates, though others infer only a single gatehouse was built on the peninsula side of the river.[ citation needed ] The gateway and tower at the eastern end of the bridge were deemed an obstruction to traffic and demolished in 1760. [3] A flood destroyed two houses at the end of the bridge in 1771. [3] Early in the 19th century the bridge was widened on its upstream side. [3] It is now 27 feet (8.2 m) wide. [3] Of the reinforcing ribs under each arch, five belong to the 15th-century bridge and two to the 19th-century widening. [3]
In 1318, Robert Neville, the "Peacock of the North", murdered his cousin, the Bishop's Steward, Sir Richard Fitzmarmaduke, at Framwellgate Bridge.[ citation needed ]
Until the building of Milburngate Bridge in 1969, Framwellgate Bridge was the main traffic route from the west through the centre of Durham. Today, the bridge is pedestrianised.
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later date being the most commonly held. In the 12th century it developed into the Gothic style, marked by pointed arches. Examples of Romanesque architecture can be found across the continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman architecture. The Romanesque style in England and Sicily is traditionally referred to as Norman architecture.
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. It originated in the Île-de-France and Picardy regions of northern France. The style at the time was sometimes known as opus Francigenum ; the term Gothic was first applied contemptuously during the later Renaissance, by those ambitious to revive the architecture of classical antiquity.
Durham, is a cathedral city and civil parish on the River Wear, County Durham, England. It is an administrative centre of the County Durham District, which is a successor to the historic County Palatine of Durham.
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English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed arches, rib vaults, buttresses, and extensive use of stained glass. Combined, these features allowed the creation of buildings of unprecedented height and grandeur, filled with light from large stained glass windows. Important examples include Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral. The Gothic style endured in England much longer than in Continental Europe.
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The medieval cathedrals of England, which date from between approximately 1040 and 1540, are a group of twenty-six buildings that constitute a major aspect of the country's artistic heritage and are among the most significant material symbols of Christianity. Though diverse in style, they are united by a common function. As cathedrals, each of these buildings serves as central church for an administrative region and houses the throne of a bishop. Each cathedral also serves as a regional centre and a focus of regional pride and affection.
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Early Gothic is the style of architecture that appeared in northern France, Normandy and then England between about 1130 and the mid-13th century. It combined and developed several key elements from earlier styles, particularly from Romanesque architecture, including the rib vault, flying buttress, and the pointed arch, and used them in innovative ways to create structures, particularly Gothic cathedrals and churches, of exceptional height and grandeur, filled with light from stained glass windows. Notable examples of early Gothic architecture in France include the ambulatory and facade of Saint-Denis Basilica; Sens Cathedral (1140); Laon Cathedral; Senlis Cathedral; (1160) and most famously Notre-Dame de Paris.
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