Old Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°30′24″N3°34′49″W / 51.506789°N 3.5804087°W |
Carries | Pedestrians |
Crosses | River Ogmore |
Locale | Bridgend, Wales |
Maintained by | Bridgend County Borough |
Characteristics | |
Design | Arch bridge |
Width | 2.6 m (8.5 ft) |
Longest span | 13.7 m (45 ft) |
History | |
Opened | c. 1425 |
Statistics | |
Toll | Free |
Official name | Bridgend Old Bridge [1] |
Reference no. | GM049 |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | Old Bridge [2] |
Designated | 29 September 1986 [2] |
Reference no. | 11303 [2] |
Location | |
The Old Bridge (Welsh : Yr Hen Bont) is a medieval two arched stone footbridge that spans the River Ogmore at Bridgend in Wales. It is not known who designed or built the bridge, however it was built in approximately 1425. The bridge was repaired in 1775 and restored both in 2005 and 2011. The bridge is a scheduled ancient monument and a grade II* listed bridge.
The Old Bridge replaced an earlier medieval structure spanning the River Ogmore. The name of Bridgend in Welsh is Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr, which means "the head of the bridge on the Ogmore". [3] Pilgrims would have used the bridge to cross the River Ogmore on their way to St David's Cathedral. [4]
The stone bridge is believed to have been built around 1425 with five-spans. [5] It is not known who designed and built the bridge. [5] The five-span structure had three river arches and smaller flood arches on each bank. [5] [6] On 21 August 1775, the western pier had been demolished due to a flood, which partially destroyed two arches on that side of the bridge. [5] [6] The arches were then rebuilt as a single arch of double span. [5]
The two visible arches span 13.7 m (45 ft) on the western side and 6.9 m (23 ft) on the eastern side of the bridge. [5] A third arch is only visible in the rear yard of an office building, built around 1830. [7] In early 2015, the fourth arch of bridge was discovered for the first time in hundreds of years within Cariads Cwtch Apothecary 12 Dunraven Place. It was found behind a wall in the basement of the same office.A small port hole has been made by Cariads Cwtch Apothecary to be able to see part of the old stone Bridge structure in the property [7]
The bridge was last used by motor vehicles in 1920. [5] In 2005 the bridge was restored and again in 2011 with its cobbled footway relaid using traditional lime mortar. [5] The bridge now has statutory protection as a scheduled ancient monument (GM049) and grade II* listed structure. [2] It is still used as a footbridge with the width of the bridge being 2.6 m (8.5 ft).
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side, and partially into a vertical load on the arch supports. A viaduct may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are typically used today.
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, 20 miles (32 km) west of Cardiff and 20 miles (32 km) east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Ogmore. The River Ewenny also flows through the town. The population was 49,597 in 2021. Bridgend is within the Cardiff Capital Region which in 2019 had a population of approximately 1.54 million.
Bridgend County Borough is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. The county borough has a total population of 139,200 people, and contains the town of Bridgend, after which it is named. Its members of the Senedd are Sarah Murphy MS, representing the Bridgend Constituency, and Huw Irranca-Davies MS representing the Ogmore Constituency, and its members of the UK parliament are Chris Bryant, Chris Elmore, and Stephen Kinnock.
The River Ogmore is a river in South Wales that is popular with anglers. It runs generally from north to south from the Ogmore Vale and Gilfach Goch, past Bridgend and Ogmore. The River Ogmore rises at Craig Ogwr in the Ogmore Valley as the Ogwr Fawr before it links with the Ogwr Fach at Blackmill. The River Llynfi, the River Garw and finally the River Ewenny in its estuary are all tributaries of the Ogmore which flows into the sea between Ogmore-by-Sea and the Merthyr Mawr sand-dunes.
Ogmore Castle is a Grade I listed castle ruin located near the village of Ogmore in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, east of Ogmore-by-Sea, and south of the town of Bridgend. It is situated on the south bank of the Ewenny River and the east bank of the River Ogmore.
Ogmore was a constituency created in 1918, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
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The Ewenny River is a river in South Wales. For most of its 10 miles (16 km) length, it forms the border between the Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend. It is a major tributary of the River Ogmore, which it joins near its estuary.
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The Old Bridge, which is now also known as the William Edwards Bridge or Pontypridd Bridge, was originally known as the New Bridge or Newbridge, is an arched single-span footbridge that spans the River Taff at Pontypridd in Wales. The bridge was built by William Edwards and was completed in 1756. The bridge now has statutory protection as a scheduled ancient monument and is grade I listed.
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