Artlegarth Beck Bridge

Summary

Pack-horse bridge, late C18/early C19, the south-east parapet rebuilt in the late C20.

Reasons for Designation

Artlegarth Beck Bridge, of later C18 or early C19 date, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it pre-dates 1840 and therefore it falls within the period when most bridges are listed;
* a small single-span segmental bridge of modest construction that nevertheless demonstrates consideration in its design and use of materials;
* it is a largely intact structure, whose C20 modifications have been executed in the same style and materials as the original.

Historic interest:

* situated on a historic pack-horse route, it illustrates the development of early infrastructure in a pre-motorised age.

Group value:

* it benefits from a spatial group value with a group of five C19 Grade II-listed buildings at the south end of the village.

History

The bridge is understood to stand on a section of an extensive, historic packhorse route, probably serving the woollen trade. The present structure is considered to date from the late C18/early C19, and may have been constructed by the locally prominent Hewetson family. A bridge in this position is depicted on Cary’s 1789 Map of Westmorland and also on an estate map of 1848, and on all Ordnance Survey editions from 1859. It has survived considerable C20 flooding. During the first half of the C20 the south-east end of the bridge was angled to allow motor vehicles crossing the bridge from the village to turn sharp left; this was reportedly to allow access for the milk lorry to local farms. The bridge was closed to motor traffic in 1973 and concrete bollards were placed at either end. A concrete lintel under the upstream south parapet is inscribed with the date 1980 and probably records its rebuilding with a flatter profile than the original. A metal pole has been added to each end of the bridge.

Details

Pack-horse bridge, late C18/early C19, the south-east parapet rebuilt in the late C20.

DESCRIPTION: a single-span segmental arched bridge carrying a former pack-horse route at a skew of 16 degrees across the Artlegarth Beck. It has split voussoirs under low, solid parapets of limestone rubble with level, limestone blocks forming coping stones. The south end of the rebuilt south-east parapet is angled, and incorporates a stone bearing a bench mark, formerly located in an adjacent stone wall. The presence of large cobbles has been recorded in the stream bed beneath the structure.

Sources

Books and journals
Watson, Keith Lovet, The Hewetsons of Ravenstonedale, (1965), 138

Websites
The History and Traditions of Ravenstonedale (1877) by Revd William Nicholls, accessed 5 July 2018 from https://archive.org/stream/historytrad00nichiala#page/n1/mode/2up

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