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The following is a list of bridges over the River Torridge in Devon listed going upstream (south) from the estuary at Bideford. The left bank of a river is that on the left of a traveller progressing downstream.
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Bridge | Photo | Date Opened | Left bank | Right bank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Torridge A39 Road Bridge | ![]() | 1987 [1] | Northam | Westleigh |
Bideford Long Bridge | ![]() | 14th century | Bideford | East-the-Water |
The stone original of the present much altered and widened arched bridge is said by the Devon biographer John Prince, (1643–1723) to have been built in the 14th century and chiefly financed, according to Prince, by Sir Theobald II Grenville (d. circa 1377), [2] [3] [4] [5] lord of the manors of Bideford and of Stowe in Cornwall. Hoskins (1954), however, states the date of the stone bridge, which replaced an earlier timber bridge, later at circa 1460. [6] | ||||
Half-Penny Bridge, Weare Giffard | ![]() | 1835 [7] | Annery, Monkleigh | Weare Giffard |
Halfpenny Bridge, looking downstream to Bideford. Viewed from side on former estate of Annery in parish of Monkleigh, far side in Weare Giffard parish. It was built as a toll bridge in 1835, at the initiative of local landowners and was privately financed through raising £1,000 in £50 shares. The tollhouse was situated on the Weare Gifford side, on the downstream side. The toll was 1/2 penny for foot passengers and 4 pence for horse-drawn carriages. [8] It marks the end of the tidal stretch of the river. | ||||
Beam Aqueduct | ![]() | 1824 [9] | Monkleigh | Beam House, Great Torrington |
The Beam Aqueduct carried the Rolle Canal over the River Torridge. It was later converted into a road bridge to form a new entrance drive to Beam House. A stone tablet on the north parapet of the Beam Aqueduct is inscribed: "The first stone of this aqueduct was laid by the Right Honourable John Lord Rolle, Baron Rolle of Stevenstone in the county of Devon, on the 11th day of August 182(4?) in the presence of the mayor, corporation and feoffees of Great Torrington and other persons assembled to witness the commencement of the" ...(word chiselled out (ROLLE?)... "CANAL undertaken at the sole expense of his Lordship. James Green Engineer". Frequent reference is made to it as the "Canal Bridge" in Henry Williamson's novel Tarka the Otter, especially as the place of Tarka's birth. | ||||
Rothern Bridge | ![]() | 15th.century [10] | Frithelstock | Great Torrington |
A legacy was left for the upkeep of Rothern Bridge and Taddiport Bridge in the will of the judge Sir William Hankford (d.1423) of nearby Annery in the parish of Monkleigh. [11] In Williamson's 1927 novel Tarka the Otter he wrote: "(Tarka) swam under Rothern Bridge whose three (sic) stone arches, bearing heavy motor-transport beyond their old age, showed the cracks of suffering that the ferns were filling green. A sycamore grew out of its lower parapet". [12] Following the opening in 1928 of the adjacent Rolle Bridge, the demolition of Rothern Bridge was proposed, but rejected due to popular outcry. It was refaced in the early 19th century. [13] Rothern Bridge is today disused and classed as a scheduled ancient monument. [14] [15] | ||||
Rolle Bridge | ![]() | 1928 [16] | Frithelstock | Great Torrington |
Rolle Bridge was built in 1928 slightly upstream of Rothern Bridge, which it replaced as the conduit of the A386 main road from the north-west of Torrington to Bideford. The bridge is next to the disused railway station of Great Torrington and carries the road on an upwards incline towards Torrington. Three commemorative stone tablets are set into the parapet: highest tablet: "Borough of Great Torrington. Mayor 1927-28 Lt.Col. A.R. O'Flaherty; 1928-29 T. Dyer; C.H. Slee Senior Alderman; R.Boase Town Clerk"; middle tablet: "Rolle Bridge. Erected 1928 at joint expense of Ministry of Transport, Devon County Council, Great Torrington Town and Alms Lands Charities. B S Miller, Clerk; R M Stone, Surveyor"; lowest tablet: "Devon County Council Bridges & Main Roads Committee 1928. Chairman: W.E. Coulton; Vice-Chairmen: H. Higgs, T. Lake, Major G.S.S. Strode. Local members of council: J.M. Metherell, J.T. Lyle, Lt.Col. Gracey, A. Galsworthy, J. Puddicombe, A. Trible, Lord Clinton". Lord Rolle (d.1842) of Stevenstone was lord of the manor of Great Torrington and some of his benefactions were amalgamated after his death into the Great Torrington Town and Alms Lands Charities. His ultimate heir was Lord Clinton, a local member of Devon County Council. | ||||
Taddiport Bridge/Town Bridge | ![]() | Mediaeval; [17] pre-1311 [18] | Taddiport | Mill Street, Great Torrington/Old Dairy Factory |
Taddiport Bridge is the oldest of the three bridges at Great Torrington and has been strengthened and altered many times. A legacy was left for the upkeep of Taddiport Bridge and Rothern Bridge in the will of the judge Sir William Hankford (d.1423) of nearby Annery in the parish of Monkleigh. [19] | ||||
New Bridge | ![]() | 1843 [20] | Cock's Shilhay | Town Mills (Orford Mill)/Town Mill Lodge/Rosemoor |
New Bridge carries the A386 over the River Torridge from the south-east side of Great Torrington to Tavistock and Plymouth. It was built by John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (d.1842) of nearby Stevenstone, lord of the manor of Great Torrington, under the supervision of Thomas Whitaker, successor to James Green as county surveyor. [21] A memorial stone tablet on the parapet on the upstream side states: "By the munificence of the Right Hon.ble John Lord Rolle this bridge was erected AD 1843. T. Whitaker, county surveyor". It is situated immediately downstream of Town Mills, Lord Rolle's castellated mill complex [22] past which flowed his Rolle Canal and which matches Lord Rolle's castellated walls of the former site of Great Torrington Castle, [23] both sites being visible from the bridge. A small arch to accommodate the Rolle Canal exists on the right bank side of New Bridge. [24] Town Mill Lodge, [25] one of the many gatehouses to Stevenstone is situated on the right bank of the Torridge at this point. [26] |
John "Jack" Russell, known as "The Sporting Parson", vicar of Swimbridge and rector of Black Torrington in North Devon, was an enthusiastic fox-hunter and dog breeder, who developed the Jack Russell Terrier and the Parson Russell Terrier, both of which are a variety of the Fox Terrier breed.
Beaford is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The village is about five miles south-east of Great Torrington, on the A3124 road towards Exeter. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 393, compared to 428 in 1901. The western boundary of the parish is formed by the River Torridge and it is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of St Giles in the Wood, Roborough, Ashreigney, Dolton, Merton and Little Torrington.
The River Torridge is a river in Devon in England. The River Torridge rises near Meddon. The river describes a long loop through Devon farming country where its tributaries the Lew and Okement join before meeting the Taw at Appledore and flowing into the Bristol Channel. The river is spate dependent and often flows between wooded banks which can be steep. The Torridge local government district is named after the river.
Newton St Cyres is a village, civil parish former manor and former ecclesiastical parish in Mid Devon, in the English county of Devon, located between Crediton and Exeter. It had a population of 562 at the 2011 Census. The village is part of the Newbrooke electoral ward. The ward population at the above census was 1,520. Almost destroyed by fire in the early 1960s, its main point of interest is the Parish Church, built in the 15th century and dedicated to the martyrs St. Cyriac and his mother St. Julitta. Most of the church is in early Perpendicular style, built of local reddish 'trap', a volcanic stone from quarries at Posbury, with the exception of the nave pillars, which are of Beer stone. It contains the monument with standing effigy of John Northcote (1570-1632) of Hayne, lord of the manor of Newton St Cyres. Newton St Cyres railway station is on the Tarka Line from Exeter to Barnstaple and the Dartmoor Line from Exeter to Okehampton, but is located approximately 0.5 miles outside the village centre, and receives an infrequent service.
St Giles in the Wood is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The village lies about 2.5 miles east of the town of Great Torrington, and the parish, which had a population of 566 in 2001 compared with 623 in 1901, is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Huntshaw, Yarnscombe, High Bickington, Roborough, Beaford, Little Torrington and Great Torrington. Most of the Victorian terraced cottages in the village, on the east side of the church, were built by the Rolle Estate.
Holbeton is a civil parish and village located 9 miles south east of Plymouth in the South Hams district of Devon, England. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 579, down from 850 in 1901. By 2011 it had increased to 619.
Cadeleigh is a small village in the county of Devon in England. It sits in the hills above the valley of the River Exe and is about 15 km north of Exeter and 6 km southwest of Tiverton.
Haccombe is a hamlet, former parish and historic manor in Devon, situated 2 1/2 miles east of Newton Abbot, in the south of the county. It is possibly the smallest parish in England, and was said in 1810 to be remarkable for containing only two inhabited houses, namely the manor house known as Haccombe House and the parsonage. Haccombe House is a "nondescript Georgian structure" (Pevsner), rebuilt shortly before 1795 by the Carew family on the site of an important mediaeval manor house.
Colleton is a hamlet and former manor in the civil parish and ecclesiastical parish of Chulmleigh, in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is situated on the north side of a valley containing the River Taw. Its nearest town is Chulmleigh, which lies approximately 3.6 miles (5.8 km) to the south-west. It consists of the grade I listed Colleton Barton and Colleton Mill, the former manorial mill, with another former industrial building situated at the approach to the bridge over the River Taw.
Landcross is a hamlet and civil parish in the local government district of Torridge, Devon, England. The parish, which is the smallest in Devon, lies just south of the town of Bideford. It is bordered clockwise from the north by the parishes of Bideford, Weare Giffard, Monkleigh, and Littleham, its eastern border being formed by a meander of the River Torridge and the western by the River Yeo. In 2001 its population was 70, compared to 58 in 1901.
John Rolle Walter was Tory MP for Exeter in 1754–1776 and for Devon in 1776–1779. He held the honorary position of Town Recorder of Great Torrington in 1739–1779, due to his family's long-standing importance as the major local landowner.
Stevenstone is a former manor within the parish of St Giles in the Wood, near Great Torrington, North Devon. It was the chief seat of the Rolle family, one of the most influential and wealthy of Devon families, from c. 1524 until 1907. The Rolle estates as disclosed by the Return of Owners of Land, 1873 comprised 55,592 acres producing an annual gross income of £47,170, and formed the largest estate in Devon, followed by the Duke of Bedford's estate centred on Tavistock comprising 22,607 with an annual gross value of nearly £46,000.
Beam is an historic estate in the parish of Great Torrington, Devon, England. Beam House is situated about 1 1/2 miles north-west and downstream of that town, on the right-bank of the River Torridge. Both the Rolle Canal and the railway crossed the river nearby. It occupies a particularly beautiful setting, described by Lauder (1986) thus: "For lovers of rivers and woodland there can be few lovlier settings for a house than this. Steeply wooded banks shelter the valley and the house is situated on slightly higher ground above lush water meadows, almost completely surrounded by the Torridge" The estate was a subsidiary seat of the Rolle family, lords of the manor of Great Torrington, whose main seat was Stevenstone on the other (south) side of that town and therefore upstream from Beam. It was an outpost of the Royalists during the Civil War. Much of the estate is today owned by Baron Clinton, as heir to the Rolles, but it has had many occupants, including use by the army in both world wars and as a borstal. Tarka the Otter was born at Beam, by what the author Henry Williamson called the "Canal Bridge" and particularly favoured the River Torridge at Beam Weir. Thus the cycleway which crosses the river at Beam, formerly the railway line, was named the "Tarka Trail", due to its association with these and other haunts of the fictional animal. Today Beam is used as an adventure centre for young people.
Monkleigh is a village, parish and former manor in north Devon, England, situated 2 1/2 miles north-west of Great Torrington and 3 1/2 miles south-east of Bideford. An electoral ward exists titled Monkleigh and Littleham. The population at the 2011 census was 1,488.
The Manor of Monkleigh was a mediaeval manor centred on the village of Monkleigh in North Devon, England, situated 2 1/2 miles north-west of Great Torrington and 3 1/2 miles south-east of Bideford.
John Rolle (1522–1570) of Stevenstone, in the parish of St Giles in the Wood, near Great Torrington, Devon, was the eldest son and heir of George Rolle, MP, founder of the great Rolle family of Stevenstone, by his second wife Eleanor Dacres. Three monuments survive in memory of his immediate family in the churches of St Giles in the Wood and Chittlehampton.
Bideford Long Bridge in North Devon spans the River Torridge near its estuary and connects the old part of the town, and formerly important river port, of Bideford on the left bank with East-the-Water on the right bank. It is one of the longest mediaeval bridges in England, being 677 feet long with 24 arches. In 1790 the bridge was the longest in Devon. It remained the furthest downstream bridge on the river until 1987, when the Torridge A39 Road Bridge was built a mile or so further downstream at Northam. The river is still tidal at Bideford and a very large fluctuation in water levels occurs twice daily under the bridge. An ancient New Year's Eve tradition was to try to run across the Long Bridge during the time taken for the bells of St. Mary's parish church, near the west end, to chime midnight. A sight enjoyed by many in the winter months is of the starlings at dusk, as they come in large flocks to roost underneath the bridge.
Potheridge is a former Domesday Book estate in the parish of Merton, in the historic hundred of Shebbear, 3 miles south-east of Great Torrington, Devon, England. It is the site of a former grand mansion house re-built by George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608–1670) circa 1660 on the site of the former manor house occupied by his family since at the latest 1287. It was mostly demolished in 1734 after the death of the widow of his son Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle.
Rashleigh is an historic former manor in the parish of Wembworthy, Devon. Rashleigh Barton, the former manor house, is a grade II* listed building, situated 5 miles north-east of the village of Wembworthy. It was the earliest known seat of the ancient Rashleigh family, a junior branch of which is still seated at Menabilly in Cornwall, and in the 16th century, on the failure of the male line, passed from the senior line of the Rashleigh family via a sole heiress to the Clotworthy family of Clotworthy in the same parish of Wembworthy.
Queen Anne's Walk is a grade I listed building in the town of Barnstaple, North Devon, completed in 1713 as a meeting place for the town's merchants. It is believed to have been designed by the architect William Talman, on the basis of its similarity to his work at the Hall in Drayton, Northamptonshire. It was promoted and financed by the thirteen members of the Corporation of Barnstaple whose armorials are sculpted on and above the parapet, and the work was overseen by Robert Incledon (1676–1758), Mayor of Barnstaple in 1712–13. It has been owned for many decades by North Devon District Council, which currently (2014) leases it to Barnstaple Town Council, and now trades as The Cafe on the Strand.
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