Treverbyn Bridge

Summary

Three-span bridge, dating from the early medieval period and substantially rebuilt in around 1412. Widened in the C18; closed to motor traffic in 1929.

Reasons for Designation

Treverbyn Bridge, dating from the pre-medieval period and substantially rebuilt in around 1412, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* an excellent survival of an early medieval bridge which retains the majority of its C15 fabric with little significant alteration;
* the different phases of construction are visible in the well-constructed structure.

Historic interest:

* a good example of a multi-arch bridge spanning a small river which was influenced by the application of an Indulgence from the Church;
* it forms part of a historic route between the historic towns of Bodmin and Liskeard.

History

Treverbyn Bridge is a multi-span bridge of three arches, crossing the River Fowey on the road between St Neot, to the west, and St Cleer, to the east. A small cluster of buildings including Treverbyn Mill marks a small farm complex on the west bank of the river. Although now a minor road, this was the main medieval route linking the important market towns of Liskeard and Bodmin.

The western part of the bridge contains pre-C15 fabric, which was referred to in around 1412 as ‘threatening total ruin’. Donations to the Church for the repair of bridges were common in early Christianity and in the medieval period, and ‘Indulgences’ issued by the Church guaranteed penance for sin for a certain number of days in exchange for labour or money to the repair of building of a bridge. In 1412 or 1413, Bishop Stafford, the Bishop of Exeter granted an Indulgence to fund the repair of Treverbyn Bridge, providing a pardon of forty days penance from sin for contributors. These repairs are evident in the fabric of the bridge’s eastern arches.

The carriageway was widened at each end of the bridge in the C18. The road lost its importance in the early C19 when a new turnpike was opened through the Glynn Valley to the south (the modern A38). A new bridge by the County Surveyor EH Collcutt was built adjacent to Treverbyn Bridge in 1929, leaving the medieval structure for pedestrian use only.

Details

Three-span bridge, dating from the early medieval period and substantially rebuilt in around 1412. Widened in the C18; closed to motor traffic in 1929.

MATERIALS: slatestone and granite rubble, with some granite boulders and slabs. Slate string course. Dressed granite parapet copings.

DESCRIPTION: Treverbyn Bridge spans the River Fowey east-west with three arches, about 22m long and 2.5m wide. It is constructed mainly of slatestone rubble with some granite boulders, with granite slabs at the western arch. At the eastern end are two four-centred arches with recessed arch rings, flanking a central pier with triangular cutwaters, continued into the parapet as refuges. A slate string course marks the parapet base on the downstream side. The earlier western arch has an inner rounded slatestone arch and is flat topped with a granite slab, with the parapet carried over at an angle on a second granite slab. The pier between the eastern and earlier western section of the bridge is wider with unequal cutwaters and no refuges on both up- and downstream sides. This is where the river also divides by the means of an island on the downstream side. The abutments and parapet are largely of local slatestone throughout, with granite in places from earlier re-used material. The parapets are about 50cm high, capped with iron-cramped dressed granite coping slabs. The parapet at the western end splays and curves to the downstream side, a result of widening in the C18.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

62260

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Otter, RA, Civil Engineering Heritage: Southern England, (1997), 25
Henderson, C, Coates, H, Old Cornish Bridges and Streams, (1928)
Beacham, P, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Cornwall, (2014), 598

Websites
Heritage Gateway - Treverbyn Bridge - Cornwall HER entry ref 17282, accessed 08/02/2018 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO9759&resourceID=1020
NHLE - Treverbyn Bridge - Scheduling entry, accessed 08/02/2018 from https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1020893
Engineering Timelines - Treverbyn (New) Bridge, 1929 by EH Collcutt., accessed 08/02/2018 from http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=851 Treverbyn (New)

End of official list entry

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