This is a list of crossings of the River Soar, the principal river of Leicestershire in the Midlands of England. Listed in the table are those crossings that have been identified downstream of the Soar Brook confluence, near Sharnford, to the last crossing near Ratcliffe-on-Soar upstream of Soar Mouth where the river meets the Trent.[1][2]
At Aylestone in Leicester the Grand Union Canal meets the Soar, to form the Soar Navigation. Downstream from this point the navigation and river become intertwined with weirs and bypass channels, one prominent section is the Mile Straight constructed for flood alleviation in the 1890s. It has four listed crossings along its length, including Upperton Road, Mill Lane, Newarke, and West Bridge. The current West Bridge built in 1891, replaced an earlier stone bridge with four arches, that once had a bridge chapel.[3] Crossing the Old Soar nearby, is Bow Bridge, although rebuilt in 1863, the earlier medieval bridge was strongly associated with the local folklore surrounding the death of Richard III.[4]
Other notable crossings include the scheduled packhorse bridges at Aylestone and Enderby Mill, with the bridges at Cossington, Barrow, Cotes and Kegworth all being Grade II listed. Near Mountsorrel, a listed red brick bridge from 1860 has been described as “an impressive local landmark.”[5]
In the 1900s a ferry crossed from the Soar to Trent Lock at the Trent confluence, carrying horses and passengers.[33][2]
Bibliography
Smith (1996). Leicester A-Z Street Atlas. Geographers A-Z Map Company Ltd. ISBN9780850393408.
Related Research Articles
Leicester is a city, unitary authority area, unparished area and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands. Its population was 368,600 in 2021, increased by 38,800 from around 329,800 in 2011. The greater Leicester urban area had a population of 559,017 in 2021, making it the 11th most populous in England, and the 13th most populous in the United Kingdom.
The River Soar is a major tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands and is the principal river of Leicestershire. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north through Leicester, where it is joined by the Grand Union Canal. Continuing on through the Leicestershire Soar Valley, it passes Loughborough and Kegworth until it reaches the Trent at the county boundary. In the 18th century, the Soar was made navigable, initially between Loughborough and the Trent, and then through to Leicester. It was not until the early 19th century that it was linked by the Grand Union Canal to the wider network to the south and to London.
The River Blythe flows through the English Midlands from central Warwickshire, through the Borough of Solihull and on to Coleshill in north Warwickshire. It runs along the Meriden Gap in the Midlands Plateau, is fed by the River Cole and is a tributary of the River Tame beside the West Midland Bird Club's Ladywalk reserve. This then joins the River Trent, whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary.
Aylestone is a suburb of Leicester, England, southwest of the city centre and to the east of the River Soar. It was formerly a separate village, but the growth of the city since the Leicester Extension Act of 1891 incorporated Aylestone into the Borough of Leicester and it is now part of the suburban area.
A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the panniers borne by the horses. Multi-arched examples sometimes have triangular cutwaters that are extended upward to form pedestrian refuges.
The River Frome is a river in Somerset, England. It rises near Bungalow Farm on Cannwood Lane, south-west of Witham Friary, flows north through Blatchbridge to the town of Frome, and continues in a generally northerly direction passing between the eastern edge of the Mendip Hills and Trowbridge before joining the Bristol Avon at Freshford, below Bradford on Avon.
Sileby is a former industrial village and civil parish in the Soar Valley in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is located between Leicester and Loughborough. The village is close to Barrow upon Soar, Mountsorrel, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake, Seagrave and Cossington. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 7,835.
Allerford is a village in the county of Somerset, England, located within Exmoor National Park, and is part of the parish of Selworthy in the district of Somerset West and Taunton. It appears in Domesday Book as "Alresford – forda Ralph de Limesy Mill".
Essex Bridge is a Grade I listed packhorse bridge over the River Trent near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England.
Tellisford is a village and civil parish 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Frome in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Woolverton.
Frog Island is an inner city area of Leicester, England, so named because it lies between the River Soar and the Soar Navigation. Frog Island is adjacent to the Woodgate area to the north, and Northgates to the South. The population of the island was at the 2011 census in the Abbey ward of Leicester City Council.
The Mountsorrel Railway was a network of industrial railway lines that served the granite quarries which dominate the Leicestershire village of Mountsorrel. After being closed in the 1950s, a section was reopened in 2015 as a heritage line run by Mountsorrel & Rothley Community Heritage Centre.
There are ten scheduled monuments in Leicester. These range from the Roman Jewry Wall and Raw Dykes to the medieval Leicester Castle and the early modern King William's Bridge. Several of the scheduled sites have a wide area protecting more than one feature. Seven of the fourteen Grade I listed buildings in Leicester are within the three most central scheduled areas.
Aylestone Meadows is an 8.8-hectare (22-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Leicester, England, United Kingdom. It is owned and managed by Leicester City Council.
Winster is a village in the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, in North West England. Historically within the county of Westmorland, it is situated less than two miles east of Windermere, England's largest natural lake. The village is within the Lake District National Park. The village has a pub, the Brown Horse Inn, an 1850s coaching inn.
Stainforth Bridge, is a 17th century, arched packhorse bridge over the River Ribble in Stainforth, North Yorkshire, England. The bridge was formerly on the main packhorse road between York and Lancaster, which has been superseded by later roads. It was in private ownership until the 1930s, when it was taken on by the National Trust. It is now a grade II listed structure and provides access to Stainforth Force, which is just below the bridge.
Hampton in Arden packhorse bridge crosses the River Blythe near Hampton in Arden in the West Midlands of England, between Birmingham and Coventry. Dating from the 15th century, it is the only bridge of its kind in the area now covered by the West Midlands, and is a grade II* listed building and a scheduled monument.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
