Wadebridge Bridge

WADEBRIDGE BRIDGE

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1142975
Date first listed:
06-Jun-1969
List Entry Name:
Wadebridge Bridge
Statutory Address:
WADEBRIDGE BRIDGE
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Location

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Date:
2001-04-03
Reference:
IOE01/03786/04
Rights:
© Mr Charles A Perry. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1142975
Date first listed:
06-Jun-1969
List Entry Name:
Wadebridge Bridge
Statutory Address 1:
WADEBRIDGE BRIDGE

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:
WADEBRIDGE BRIDGE

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:
Cornwall (Unitary Authority)
Parish:
Wadebridge
National Grid Reference:
SW 99131 72464

Details

WADEBRIDGE WADEBRIDGE SW 9872-9972 9/253 Wadebridge Bridge 6.6.69

GV II*

Road bridge over River Camel. Circa 1468, financed by Thomas Lovybound vicar of Egloshayle. Widened in 1847 and again in 1963, the consultant engineers Posford, Parry and Partners. Local stone rubble. Granite dressings used in the alterations of 1847 and 1963. The bridge, 320 feet long, originally had 17 arches, 12 of which visibly survive; the end arches having been built up and were used as cellars. The original pointed arches are 18 feet 6 inches wide and rise some 9 feet from the springing point. The piers are 12 feet wide with deep cutwaters between each arch, rising to form refuges in the parapets. In 1847 granite segmental arches were inserted across the cutwaters to widen the carriageway by 3 feet on either side, thereby diminishing the depth of the cutwaters. In 1963 the bridge was widened on the south east side, almost doubling the original width of the bridge. The design of the granite segmental arches of the 1847 widening was copied using rusticated granite blocks with cutwaters repeated, rising to form refuges. The bridge was mentioned by William of Worcester in his visit of 1478 and a detailed account is given by Leland (1538). The bridge originally connected 2 chapels on either side of the river, one dedicated to St Michael and the other known as King's Chapel, both of which have been demolished. Local legend states that Lovybound, patron of the bridge, was unsure how to build foundations on a river bed; however, after a dream about sheep shearing he set bales of wool on the river bed, which in time swole up and bound the shifting mud, thereby allowing secure foundations to be laid. Henderson, C and Coates, H Old Cornish Bridges and Streams, 1928, reprinted 1972 Polsue, J Lake's Parochial History of the County of Cornwall, 1872 reprinted 1974 Country Life 7 Jan 1965

Listing NGR: SW9913172464

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:
67879
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Henderson, C, Coates, H, Old Cornish Bridges and Streams, (1928)
Polsue, J, Lakes Parochial History of the County of Cornwall, (1872)
Country Life in 7 January, (1965)

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Ordnance survey map of Wadebridge Bridge

Map

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 08-Jun-2026 at 11:15:05.

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© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. Use of this mapping is subject to Terms and Conditions.

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

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