Cropredy Bridge
| Cropredy Bridge | |
|---|---|
View across the bridge towards Williamscot
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| Coordinates | 52°06′53″N 1°18′54″W / 52.1147°N 1.3150°WCoordinates: 52°06′53″N 1°18′54″W / 52.1147°N 1.3150°W |
| Carries | minor road |
| Crosses | River Cherwell |
| Locale | between Cropredy and Williamscot, Oxfordshire |
| Owner | Oxfordshire County Council |
| Maintained by | Oxfordshire County Council |
| Website | Oxfordshire County Council |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | concrete |
| No. of spans | 3 |
| History | |
| Construction end | 1937 |
| Opened | 1937 |
| Collapsed | 1644 |
| Replaces | Medieval bridge repaired in 1691 |
| Site of the Battle of Cropredy Bridge in 1644 | |
Cropredy Bridge is a bridge in north Oxfordshire that carries the minor road between Cropredy and the hamlet of Williamscot. It spans the River Cherwell, which is also the boundary between the civil parishes of Wardington (which includes Williamscot) and Cropredy. The bridge has three spans, a reinforced concrete deck and is faced with Hornton stone. Each of the three spans is 12 feet (3.7 m). The present bridge was completed in 1937, but there has been a bridge on this site since at least 1312.
The earliest record of the bridge is of work carried out on it in 1312. It is not clear whether it was built at this time, or whether the bridge was even older and just being repaired. Numerous 14th- and 15th-century deeds refer to the magna pons or le longebrugge of Cropredy.
Cropredy bridge featured at least twice in the English Civil War. On 23 October 1642 King Charles I and part of his Royalist army crossed the bridge en route from Edgcote, Northamptonshire to Edge Hill, Warwickshire to confront a Parliamentarian force led by Earl of Essex in the Battle of Edgehill. On 29 June 1644 Royalist and Parliamentarian forces fought each other for control of the bridge in the Battle of Cropredy Bridge. The Royalist force was personally led in battle by Charles I. It defeated the Parliamentarian force, which was commanded by Sir William Waller.
The bridge may have been damaged in the battle, as there was repair or reconstruction work in 1691, according to the date on a capstone on its cutwater. As well as the year, the capstone bears a pair of initials, which could be either "SS" or "J.J.". The bridge had two arches, and it seems to be the larger, western one that was repaired after the Civil War. The smaller, eastern arch was pointed, predated the 17th century and may have been medieval.
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