Postbridge
| Postbridge | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 The Clapper Bridge at Postbridge | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX648789 |
| Location: | 50°35’40"N, 3°54’40"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Yelverton |
| Postcode: | PL20 |
| Local Government | |
Postbridge is a hamlet in the heart of Dartmoor in Devon. It runs along the B3212, roughly midway between Princetown and Moretonhampstead, and despite its smallness it is famous and much visited for its ancient clapper bridge over the East Dart river
The East Dart, one of two main tributaries of the River Dart, flows through the hamlet, bridged here by both the ancient bridge and the ancient stone bridge. The village consists of a few houses, a shop, a pub, and a Dartmoor National Park tourist information centre.
The bridge
- Main article: Clapper Bridge, Postbridge
The Clapper Bridge at Postbridge is the best known and finest example of an ancient clapper bridge in the county. It is one over several such bridges on Dartmoor but the most accessible and most complete. It is a Grade II* listed structure,[1]
The bridge, once known as the Post Bridge, is first recorded in the 14th century. The bridge is believed to have been built in the 13th century to enable pack horses to cross the river, carrying tin to the stannary town of Tavistock, although its design is ancient and it is frequently said to be prehistoric.
The clapper bridge remains complete.
Standing alongside another bridge, 25 yards upstream of it, is a Georgian road bridge, a Grade II listed structure built in the 1780s, and which today carries the B3212 through the village.[2] It is built of granite rubble and crosses the little river on three spans with round arches. This bridge was built following two Acts of Parliament of 1772 to turnpike the road between Tavistock and Moretonhampstead.
Parish church
The Church of St Gabriel is a small village church in Postbridge built in 1869 by Robert Medley Fulford; the first church he built in his career. It is built of granite rubble walls and granite dressings with a slate roof.[3][4]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Postbridge) |
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1105432: The Post Bridge, Postbridge
- ↑ National Heritage List 1170849: Clapper Bridge at Postbridge
- ↑ White's Directory, 1890
- ↑ National Heritage List 1305888: Church of St Gabriel