Exeter Bridges - a history of some bridges

Bonhay Road Railway Bridge

This brick built railway bridge that takes the old Southern Railway line from St David's Station to Central Station and Waterloo Station in London reputedly carries the steepest standard gauge railway line in the country. The gradient is 1 in 45 and does seem to prove to be a struggle for some trains.

An interesting little detail on the bridge dates from World War Two. Underneath the railway arch there were built some holes at ankle level into which were to be placed  triangular girders, to block the road. The girders were piled near by. There was a fear during the Second War that the Germans would land parachutists and the iron obstruction was designed to block the roadway.

Burnet Patch Bridge

A new cut through the wall was made in 1753 at the site of a 13th-century tower, between Southernhay and Cathedral Close. A rather attractive, cast iron bridge was put across the gap in 1814. At that time the mayor had to regularly walk along the city wall to inspect it. Mayor Burnet-Patch found the task of clambering down the wall and back up the other side of the new opening rather onerous, so he had the bridge put in place to ease the task. 

James Cossins wrote in 1877 "This bridge was erected on demolishing the wall, the outlet being a doorway.It was locked at night, and the keys kept by the man living at Broadgate, hence the reason of "no right of carriage way to Southernhay." On each side of the bridge in cast-iron letters are Burnett Patch, Mayor, R. Trewman, Esq., Receiver, 1814."

The street beneath the bridge, was prone to flooding in heavy rain and boys from the Cathedral School had a traditional game in the large puddle, soaking themselves and any spectators. At the time of writing, the drains beneath the bridge have been playing up and the old river cobble roadway ripped up. The City Council are planning to replace the cobbles with a new surface and to prevent cars parking near the bridge to make the area more attractive - pity about the loss of the cobbles though, and the water game.

Countess Wear Bridge

This bridge, to the south of the city, was the lowest crossing point of the River Exe before the completion of the M5 motorway. Before the bridge was built it was a dangerous fording point - after three men and a horse were drowned, the Exeter Turnpike Trust decided to build a bridge. This was a busy time for the trust, as they had just embarked on building a new stone bridge up river, at Exeter in 1770. Thomas Parker of Topsham was engaged to build the Countess Wear bridge to a conventional stone design. Work started in March 1771 and it was opened on 14 September 1774. It had seven spans of between 23ft and 26ft in length. The width was 13ft 7in.

In 1842, the two central arches were replaced by a 60ft arch by Thomas Whitaker, on behalf of Robert Davy who had a part ownership of the nearby paper mills. The cost of the modification was shared by Davy and the Turnpike Trust.

In 1938 the road was widened to 45ft to cater for increased motor traffic along the new Exeter bypass. They used reinforced concrete with masonry facings - this is the side shown on the photo above. The opening of the M5 relieved the bridge of many of its 60,000 vehicles it was carrying per day. It is now part of the A379. The northern or upstream side is unmodified and still retains the facing of Parker's original bridge.

The weir after which the bridge was named was built by Isabella de Fortibus in 1284, cutting the port of Exeter from the sea, is just above the bridge. Also, the first Exeter Canal built by John Trew joined the Exe just below the weir at Matford Brook.

Cricklepit Suspension Bridge

This footbridge across the River Exe was built in 1988 to link the quayside with Haven Banks. Since the 1970's, attempts had been made to open up the riverside for tourism and the establishment of the Maritime Museum on the quay and the canal basin helped preserve the Butts Ferry as a way to link the two sides of the river. Cricklepit Bridge gave an alternative shortcut across the river that was available 24 hours per day. The bridge was designed by Dave Hubbard and was opened on 29th June, 1988, by Mayor O'Callaghan. Pupils from Montgomery School paraded over the bridge in costumes from the times of previous bridges over the Exe. Built on reinforced concrete piles, the deck is made of reinforced concrete cast into glass fibre formwork. The balustrade is of cast iron. The superstructure is of high tensile steel with high tensile steel cables. The bridge was carefully lined up with the central court yard of the new flats which gives a view through to Piazza Terracina. It was built for the Exeter Canal & Quay Trust by Christiani & Nelsen of Plymouth and fabricated by M D Fabrications of Newport, South Wales.

Salmon Pool (Alphingbrook) Swing Bridge

An interesting little bridge that joins Alphinbrook Road, Marsh Barton with Riverside Meadows about 1 km above the Double Locks. The wooden floored bridge is swung by hand to allow boats to pass up the canal. It is only wide enough for a single car and provides the only vehicular access to the Double Locks Hotel. Crossing is a bit of an adventure and is accompanied by the rattle of the wooden boards as the tyres pass over them. The approach to this bridge is via a very narrow brick built bridge that crosses the main railway line to Plymouth and Cornwall from St Davids.

Exwick Flood Relief Channel Bridge

After the devastating floods of St Thomas and Exwick in 1960, plans were drawn up to construct a flood prevention scheme for Exeter. The main Exwick Flood Channel was built parallel to the river past St Davids Station. Station Road bridged the channel with a purpose built, concrete bridge. The whole flood scheme was built between 1965 and 1977. See the Exeter Floods in 1960 for a full history.

Mallison Bridge

This small wooden bridge was installed to cross the outlet of the Higher Leat where it enters the Exe by the Customs House . It was built in 1984 and completed the path to Shilhay giving access to the new Cricklepit Suspension Bridge and the bank of the Exe at Shilhay. The designer was D J Howard of Exeter City Council.

Exonian, Harold Vincent Mallison, was a professor who left his money to the city. He died in 1980 with a request that this bridge be constructed. He was a formidable chess player between the wars and was the first Exeter player to win the Thomas Winter Wood Trophy, the Devon championship. The bridge was opened by his nephew R L Mallison on 19th September 1984.

The arched stone bridge further up the leat, by the Custom House, was built in 1681.

Miller’s Crossing Bridge

Opened in November 2002, this foot and cycle bridge is the latest crossing of the River Exe. It is situated over Blackaller Weir, by the Mill on the Exe  and links Bonhay Road with the island separating the Exe from the Exwick Flood Channel. There is a second bridge over the flood channel to Flowerpot Fields. The main bridge is 54 meters long and has two large 6 metre 'mill' wheels to anchor the cabling supporting the bridge.

It is an attractive design that technically is a cable stayed bridge - the design of the concrete wheels echoes the many fulling and grist mills that lined the Exe in former times. Designed by Don Sharland and Clive Ryall, bridge engineers of Devon County Council, it was built by Land and Marine Structures Ltd under the main contractor of South West Highways. It was named after a public competition run by the Express and Echo.

Station Road Bridge

Situated just above St Davids Station, and across the railway crossing, the first bridge linking Red Cow Village with Exwick Mill along Station Road was built for the Buller family in the 1870's. The Buller's owned land in Exwick and had donated the land at the end of Station Road for Exwick School and St Andrew's Church. The builder was the Horseley Bridge Company who coincidentally, built the modern replacement. The Buller Bridge was swept away in a flood in 1974, during the works to build the Exeter Flood Prevention Scheme. Some residents of Exwick were reported as believing that the old bridge had been weakened because the works had weakened the river bank above the bridge. See Exeter Floods in 1960.

The replacement bridge was designed and built by Devon County Council Bridge Works Division at a cost of £100,000. A temporary bailey bridge for pedestrians was installed at a cost of £5,000 until the new bridge was completed. The steel deck of the new bridge was fabricated by Horseley Bridge and Thomas Piggott Ltd and erected by Carter Horseley Engineers Ltd. It was designed to have a low road surface level allowing a flat approach from either side.

Trews Weir Suspension Bridge

The Match Factory suspension bridge near Trews Weir was constructed in 1935. It was built for Willey's Foundry by the King's Asphalt Company, to provide a crossing for those on the new estates at Burnthouse Lane, to walk to work in their foundry. The bridge was refurbished in 1991 when the girders and decks were replaced by Exeter City Council. A very pleasant walk from the quay to Trews Weir can become a circuit by crossing this bridge and returning via the Canal Basin at Haven Banks and crossing back over the river via the Cricklepit Suspension Bridge. Expect to get wobbly legs on this bridge as it has a pronounced bounce when people cross - and the designers of the Millennium Bridge in London thought they had invented that little feature!