Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1171233
- Date first listed:
- 20-Nov-1959
- List Entry Name:
- Wool Bridge
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2006-05-20
- Reference:
- IOE01/15672/08
- Rights:
- © Rev Andrew Salmon. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1171233
- Date first listed:
- 20-Nov-1959
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 30-Jun-2015
- List Entry Name:
- Wool Bridge
- Location Description:
- Wool, Purbeck, Dorset. Located at NGR SY84451 87152.
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.
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.
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Dorset (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Wool
- District:
- Dorset (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- East Stoke
- National Grid Reference:
- SY8445287153
Summary
A C16 bridge, with later alterations, spanning the River Frome on the civil parish boundaries of Wool and East Stoke.
Reasons for Designation
Wool Bridge, Dorset is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* Relative date: the bridge remains substantially a C16 structure, and the best preserved Elizabethan bridge in Dorset;
* Architectural interest: it is a neatly-made structure with very well constructed arches to the spans, and deep, pointed cutwaters with contemporary refuges;
* Group value: with Woolbridge Manor (qv), both of which feature in Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.
History
The placename `Wullebrigg', recorded in 1244, is associated with the site of Wool Bridge. The bridge is recorded as having crossed this point of the River Frome in 1343. The current structure is probably of C16 date and historical records indicate that repairs were carried out in 1607 and 1688. It was the first bridge ordered to be repaired as a county bridge in 1742, and some repair work was also carried out in 1806. An additional flood arch, built in the south approach causeway, is probably of late-C19 date. During the Second World War, the end arches were widened and the parapets removed for the passage of tanks. The parapets were later rebuilt using the same stone. The bridge is now closed to traffic, except pedestrians and cyclists. The bridge features in Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy due to its location next to Woolbridge Manor (qv), the home of the Turberville family. It is considered to be the best preserved Elizabethan bridge in Dorset.
Details
A road bridge of c.C16 date with later repairs and C20 alterations.
MATERIALS: ashlar stone of varying types, and red brick to the south arch.
DESCRIPTION: a multi-span, curved bridge, originally of five arches but with an additional C19 flood arch to the south. The additional arch is on a different alignment. The main segmental arches are each strengthened by three wide ribs beneath. The largest arch spans just over 15ft. There are four river piers to each side, which have large cutwaters upstream and smaller ones downstream. They extend up to a low parapet where they form pedestrian refuges. The parapet has moulded coping. The initials F.T. and the date 1688 have been inscribed on a stone now reset in modern brickwork (RCHM). An 1806 date is inscribed on the face of the far right end pillar (Wallis). The surface of the bridge is modern tarmacadam.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 108361
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Wallis, A J, Dorset Bridges A History and Guide, (1974), 67
McFetrich, D, Parsons, J, Discover Dorset Bridges, (1998), 23
Other
RCHM vol. lI, pt 2, p 406
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 27-Jun-2026 at 09:57:26.
Download a full scale map (PDF)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.