Thorngate Footbridge

Thorngate Footbridge
County Durham, Yorkshire
Location
Type:	Beam, lattice girder
Crossing:	River Tees
Location
Grid reference:	NZ04901597
Location:	54°32’20"N, 1°55’33"W
Structure
Type:	Beam, lattice girder
History
	Built 1881
Information

Thorngate Footbridge is a footbridge which carries a footpath over the River Tees between County Durham on the north bank and the North Riding of Yorkshire on the south. The bridge is to be found downstream of Barnard Castle town centre and road bridge. It is known locally as ‘the Green Bridge’.

The Tees was once crossed by stepping stones at this point, until a footbridge was built to allow crossings dryshod. A 3-span wrought iron footbridge on stone piers was built in 1871, but was washed away by floods in 1881, sending two men to their deaths. The bridge was replaced the following year by a new lattice girder bridge built by Wilson Bros of Darlington; the bridge standing today.

The bridge is of three spans, two quite short, the centre span of 170 feet, and stands at the foot of The Bank and Thorngate, running down out of Barnard Castle. The bridge gives access to houses on the south side of the river, in Startforth. The river here is turbulent and the bridge gives good views as it flows round a bend from the old stone bridge upstream and down past wooded banks.

References

• Thorngate Footbridge: Bridges on the Tyne