Rotherbridge
| Rotherbridge | |
| Sussex | |
|---|---|
 Rotherbridge Farm | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU966202 |
| Location: | 50°58’23"N, 0°37’29"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Petworth |
| Postcode: | GU28 |
| Dialling code: | 01798 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Chichester |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Arundel and South Downs |
Rotherbridge is a small, rural community, about a mile south-west of Petworth in Sussex,. Until 1800, the road from Chichester to Petworth crossed the River Rother by a bridge here; the river acquired its present name from the bridge, not the bridge from the river. Rotherbridge also gives its name to the county's Rotherbridge Hundred, in the Rape of Arundel.
Name
The name "Rotherbridge" is derived from the Old English Hriðerbrycg, meaning "cattle bridge",[1] or "cattle way". By 1280, the name had become "Rutherbrig", taking its present form in 1550.[2]
The name "Rother" for the river is a back formation from "Rotherbidge".[3] Before this the river was known as the "Scir", a Saxon word meaning "bright" or "clear".
The bridge over the River Rother
In the late 14th century, a double-arched stone bridge was built across the River Rother by Parson Acon of Petworth.[4] In 1540, John Leland, the antiquary, visited the Rother bridge and wrote that it was "a fayre Bridge of Stone made by one, Parson Acon, who builded the Spire of the faire steeple there in the towne" (of Petworth).
Until 1800, the turnpike road from Chichester to Petworth descended Duncton Hill before crossing the River Rother at Rotherbridge. From there, travellers could proceed towards Petworth via Rotherbridge Lane or due north to Tillington by way of Hungers Lane.[5] The Petworth Turnpike Trustees, including the Third Earl of Egremont, suspected that William Warren, the miller at Coultershaw (half a mile south-east) was allowing his "friends" to cross the river by using the mill bridge, thus avoiding the toll for use of the turnpike. By Act of Parliament in 1800, Lord Egremont paid for the construction of a new bridge at Coultershaw Mill and the re-routing of the turnpike direct from there to Petworth. As a result, the former twin-arched bridge was pulled down and the stone was used to build the new bridge at Coultershaw with a toll-house on the west bank of the river.[6]
Following the demolition of the bridge, this was replaced by a floating footbridge to connect the farm at Rotherbridge with that at Kilsham (Kelsham) on the south bank. The bridge was chained to the south (left) bank and could be passed by boat by lifting this at one end.[7][8] Following the abandonment of the Rother Navigation, the bridge was replaced with a wooden footbridge, and then by a fixed suspension bridge in 1935 and by an iron bridge with tubular railings in 1961.[9] This in turn was replaced in 2010.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Rotherbridge) |
References
- ↑ Bruce 2000, p. 5.
- ↑ Rowling, Rolf. "Coultershaw Beam Pump (5)". Sussex Mills Group. http://www.sussexmillsgroup.org.uk/coulter5.htm.
- ↑ Rowling, Rolf. "The River Rother (Western)". Coultershaw Beam Pump. Sussex Mills Group. http://www.sussexmillsgroup.org.uk/coulter5.htm.
- ↑ Vine 1995, p. 72.
- ↑ Vine 1995, p. 71.
- ↑ Vine 1995, pp. 72–73.
- ↑ Vine 1995, p. 141.
- ↑ Bonthron, P. (1908). "From Midhurst on the Rother to Littlehampton on the Arun". My Holidays on Inland Waterways. www.rotherbridge.org.uk. http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/mwp.php?wpage=MHIWc10.htm.
- ↑ Vine 1995, p. 148.
- Bruce, Pamela (2000). Northchapel A Village History. Northchapel Parish Council. ISBN 0-9538291-0-3.
- Jerrome, Peter (2002). Petworth. From the beginnings to 1660. Petworth: The Window Press.
- Vine, P.A.L. (1995). London's Lost Route to Midhurst: The Earl of Egremont's Navigation. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7509-0968-6.
