Devil's Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale

Devil's Bridge
Westmorland
The Devil's Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale
Location
Crossing:	River Lune
Location
Grid reference:	SD61557824
Location:	54°11’40"N, 2°35’13"W
Structure
History
	Built 15th century
Information

The Devil's Bridge crosses the River Lune between Kirkby Lonsdale and the parish of Casterton, in the very south of Westmorland. It is a rare example of a surviving, complete, mediæval three-span bridge, and is today a Grade-I listed structure.

The bridge was built at some time in the late Middle Ages, probably the 15th or early 16th century, and crosses high above the Lune on three arches, with a single pier in the midst of the river. It is on the eastern edge of Kirkby, and for centuries carries the main road to Ingleton and over the fells to Settle in Ribblesdale. Today's A65 though was diverted onto a more modern bridge in the 1930s.

The bridge's three spans

Structure and history

The bridge is constructed from coursed dressed square stone blocks and has three unequal segmental arches, each with four large ribs and three chamfers. The bridge is topped by a parapet with a single string course and two semi-octagonal refuges on either side, which stand above two piers with triangular cutwaters.

A sundial is installed at the east end of the bridge, bearing an inscription with the date of 1663.

An earlier bridge is known to have stood in this place as a grant of pontage was given for the site in 1275 and 1365. The current bridge was built to replace these earlier bridges.

Multi span bridges, once presumably numerous throughout England in the Middle Ages, have rarely survived, having been rebuilt or replaced. Fewer than 200 examples are now known to survive, and the Devil's Bridge is rarer still as a bridge surviving largely unaltered, hence its being considered to be of national importance.

Outsiode links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Devil's Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale)

References

National Monuments Record: No. 43977 – Devil's Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale