Newton Flotman Bridge

Summary

A late medieval four-arch stone bridge, widened twice and lengthened by the addition of causeways in the first half of the nineteenth century, and extended by one arch in 1976.

Reasons for Designation

Newton Flotman Bridge, a late medieval four-arch stone bridge, extended in the first half of the C19, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* less than 200 medieval multi-span bridges are known to survive, making this a rare and early surviving example;

* a significant proportion of the medieval fabric remains.

Historic interest:

* the documentary evidence for the bridge’s repair and its numerous phases of widening indicate its long-established importance as a crossing place at this part of the river where it forms a picturesque element of considerable historic interest.

Group value:

* it has strong group value with the adjoining milestone, erected on the Norwich to Scole Turnpike probably in the late C18, as both structures are eloquent reminders of pre-industrialised transport routes.

History

Multi-span bridges were constructed throughout the medieval period for the use of pedestrians and packhorse or vehicular traffic, crossing rivers or streams, often replacing or supplementing earlier fords. During the early medieval period timber was used but from the C12 stone (and later brick) bridges became more common, with the piers sometimes supporting a timber raft. Most stone bridges were constructed with pointed arches, although semicircular and segmental examples are also known.

The bridge that carried the former Norwich to Ipswich road over the River Tas at Newton Flotman is a complex, multi-period structure of at least five principal phases. The medieval bridge was of humpback form, four arches long and no more than 6 feet wide. There is no evidence that it had parapets. The medieval fabric is confined to the upstream (west) side of the bridge, where all or part of four, ribbed, stone arches (one later rebuilt in brick) survive. In the first half of the C19, this early bridge underwent several phases of development, in 1838, and probably in 1848. It was lengthened by brick causeways and widened twice on the downstream (east) side; the deck was raised and parapets were added. All this work was carried out in brick. The bridge was subsequently lengthened by the addition of one arch to the north in 1976.

The earliest phase of the bridge has been dated to the C15 (Pevsner & Wilson, 1999). The first available written record dates to 1720 when the bridge is reported in the Quarter Sessions as having been the responsibility of the County to maintain since 1623. In 1818, it was described by Thomas Cromwell as ‘a very good brick arched bridge’ (Cromwell 1818). The second phase of the bridge’s development is shown in Stone’s Picturesque Views of all the Bridges belonging to The County of Norfolk (1830). A drawing of the upstream (west) elevation of the bridge shows essentially the medieval bridge, unwidened at this date, but with brick parapets and brick causeways at both ends, the southern causeway pierced by an additional (fifth) arch. The southern causeway and arch were probably necessitated by the outfall from the adjacent mill race for the nearby Saxlingham Thorpe Mill. They now lie buried in the riverbank.

The third phase involved the widening of the bridge on its downstream (east) side in 1838, as is recorded by a datestone in the upstream parapet. It was subsequently widened again on the same side around 1848 (the fourth phase), which is the date recorded on the pattress plates on the downstream elevation.

In August 1912, severe flooding in the Tas valley caused the fourth pier and parts of the adjacent fourth and fifth arches on the upstream elevation to collapse. Norfolk County Council’s Bridges Committee reportedly considered repairing the damage using steel girders but were prevailed upon by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings to use materials that matched the originals. The repairs had been completed by November 1913 at a cost of £778 11s 1d.

The fifth phase in the bridge’s development occurred in 1976 when a sixth arch was added to the northern end as part of flood-alleviation works.  The bridge is now bypassed and pedestrianised.

Details

A late medieval four-arch stone bridge, widened twice and lengthened by the addition of causeways in the first half of the C19, and extended by one arch in 1976.

MATERIALS: stone and red brick.

PLAN: the bridge carries the former Norwich to Ipswich road over the River Tas and is aligned approximately north-south. The arches have been numbered 1 to 6, starting at the northern end (i.e. numbered from left to right when looking eastwards downstream). Arch 1 was built in 1976; arches 2-5 constitute the original medieval bridge; and arch 6, which pierced the causeway, was built (or substantially rebuilt) in the first half of the C19, and is now buried in the riverbank.

EXTERIOR: the earliest part of the bridge is on the upstream (western) side which is late medieval in date, although repairs and later modifications are also apparent. The earliest visible elements are the slightly pointed, elliptical (almost four-centred) arches of spans 2-4, and the base of the southern side of arch 5 (what is now the southern abutment), which are all constructed in stone. The barrels of arches 2-4 each consists of four chamfered stone ribs, across which other stones have been laid to form the arch soffits. The ribs rise from low, vertical, ashlar piers, although the northern face of pier 3 (between arches 3 and 4) has been repaired in brick. It is very likely that the soffit of arch 5 was originally stone-ribbed as well, although the arch ring and soffit were later rebuilt in brick. The spandrels, which were raised (probably in 1838) to level the deck out, are in rendered brick.

Except for piers 1 and 5 (the present southern abutment), there are stone cutwaters against all piers on the upstream elevation, integral with the stonework of the bridge. In section, these are all pointed with half hips at just above the springing level of the arches; each then continues up through the spandrel in a reduced but still pointed form, terminating in a small, ridged cap a little below string-course level. Piers 1 and 5 have a similar cutwater rising to half hips, but of brick.

In the arch barrels, construction joints clearly show the 1838 brick extension built directly up against the east side of old stone structure. The arches are elliptical verging on four-centred to match those of the original structure. The spans on the second 1848 extension to widen the bridge (again on the east side) have a more definite pointed, four-centred-arch profile. There are no cutwaters, but piers 1 and 4 (the original ends of the bridge, excluding causeways) are embellished with shallow pilaster strips that rise right up through both spandrels and parapet. There are small rectangular buttresses set against these pilaster strips and all other piers.

The brick parapets, dating to 1838, have stone copings of a shallow, ridged profile. The southern end of the western parapet terminates in an octagonal brick pier, which has an octagonal, shallow-profile cap that matches the coping. There is an identical pier at the northern end of the parapet but given that this end of the bridge was extended in 1976, it is unclear whether it is the original pier repositioned or a modern facsimile. Approximately in the centre of the western parapet is a stone, set facing the roadway, that reads ‘S | N / 1838’. The ‘S’ and ‘N’ are probably the initial letters of the two parishes Saxlingham Nethergate and Newton Flotman, and the ‘I’ a vertical line denoting the position of the parish boundary. On the eastern parapet, there are iron tie rods through the crown of each arch to tie the two extensions together. These have pattress plates cast with the manufacturer and date: ‘GARROOD 1848’.

The southern causeway and arch, shown on the 1830 drawing, now lie buried in the riverbank which was extended forward to enlarge the mill car park. It is probable that this causeway was the latest in a succession of such causeways and was heavily rebuilt when the bridge deck was raised (probably in 1838). On the curving brick wing wall that extends the line of the bridge’s western parapet, a pattress plate marks the position of the crown of the blocked arch 6. The sloping tops of a couple of additional small buttresses, identical to that against pier 5, are also visible protruding above the car-park surface either side of the pattress plate.

At the northern end of the bridge, arch 1 (built in 1976) is constructed of reinforced mass concrete faced in brick. Most of the river’s flow is now directed beneath this arch, and arches 2-5 are protected by a concrete invert (poured between steel shuttering) laid in the bed of the river to protect the older parts of the bridge from scour.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

226618

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Websites
Marcus Jecock, The Old Bridge at Newton Flotman, South Norfolk: Architectural and Historical Assessment (22 September 2025), accessed 29 October 2025 from https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/62-2025

End of official list entry

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