Wharf Bridge, Itchen Navigation, Winchester

Wharf Bridge, Winchester, SO23 9NL

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1488222
Date first listed:: 07-Aug-2024
List Entry Name:: Wharf Bridge, Itchen Navigation, Winchester
Statutory Address:: Wharf Bridge, Winchester, SO23 9NL

The Missing Pieces Project

Share your view of unique places. Almost 350,000 photos and stories have been added so far.

Add your contribution

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

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

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1488222
Date first listed:: 07-Aug-2024
List Entry Name:: Wharf Bridge, Itchen Navigation, Winchester
Location Description:: SU 48539 28749; the bridge goes over the Itchen Navigation river on the Itchen Way footpath and the path comes off Domum Road in Winchester.
Statutory Address 1:: Wharf Bridge, Winchester, SO23 9NL

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

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

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:: Wharf Bridge, Winchester, SO23 9NL

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

County:: Hampshire
District:: Winchester (District Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Park:: SOUTH DOWNS
National Grid Reference:: SU4853728747

Summary

Cart bridge of around the late C18, spanning the Itchen Navigation.

Reasons for Designation

Wharf Bridge, of around 1760, spanning the Itchen Navigation, is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons: Architectural interest: * as a good example of a well-built, cart bridge which illustrates its intended use through the narrow form and stone pathway; * it pre-dates 1850 and therefore falls within the period when most bridges are considered to be of special interest; * it is an intact structure that appears to survive without extensive later modification. Historic interest: * it is situated on the Itchen Navigation and part of the infrastructure supporting this important C18 navigation route from Southampton to Winchester. Group value: * it has an historical functional relationship with the nearby, Grade II-listed, Black Bridge.

History

In 1617, the City of Winchester paid for a survey of the River Itchen to see if it was possible to provide a waterborne route through to Southampton. In 1665 an Act of Parliament was passed to allow seven investors to dig a canal and connect up the various waterways to create the Itchen Navigation. The construction included a number of new locks, wharves and bridges and is thought to have taken place between 1671 and 1710, although further improvements continued to be added throughout the 1700s.

Despite disputes over water levels and carriage fees, it was used for around 150 years, before the arrival of the railway in 1839 prompted its decline, with the last barge journey recorded as 1869.

Wharf Bridge is thought to be the oldest surviving bridge on the Itchen Navigation, dating from around 1760. It lies just south of Black Bridge, which was constructed in the later C18 or early C19, and listed at Grade II (NHLE reference 1350749).

Details

Cart bridge of around 1760, spanning the Itchen Navigation. MATERIALS AND PLAN: the bridge is built of multi-hued bricks, with stone coping to the parapets. It is orientated east to west, and now provides pedestrian access across the former Itchen Navigation. DESCRIPTION: the brick walling is predominantly laid in header bond, with some stretcher bond repair. To either side, the wing walls flare out in a sinuous curve, terminating in a brick pillar. The voussoirs of the broad, round-headed arch are formed by a soldier course of bricks. The stone coping has chisel marks to the side face. The track across the bridge is narrow and was presumably designed for cart traffic. It has a rubble stone base with some larger stone slabs.

Sources

Other
Itchen Navigation Heritage Trail Hampshire - Heritage Report for a Conservation Management Plan (April 2005) by Wessex Archaeology

Legal

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