Nantwich Bridge

Nantwich Bridge (also known as the Welsh Row Bridge and formerly the Welsh Bridge) is a stone bridge carrying Welsh Row over the River Weaver in the town of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The existing bridge replaces a 17th-century stone bridge; it dates from 1803 and is listed at grade II. An earlier timber bridge known as the Wich Bridge is first mentioned at the end of the 14th century; it is described as having a chapel and shops on it.

Nantwich lay on the main London–Chester road, an important transport route, and the bridge was heavily used for trade and military purposes from the medieval era until the 19th century.

The earliest crossing of the River Weaver was via a ford to the south of the existing bridge, near the probable site of the Norman castle. A Roman trackway running at an angle to the course of Welsh Row was found during excavations by the existing bridge in 2007. A medieval wooden causeway running beneath the modern street was also uncovered. The town's location on the main London to Chester road meant that the crossing would have seen heavy use from the medieval era, including by soldiers en route to Wales and later Ireland. The opening of Telford's road from London to Holyhead resulted in a decline in travel via this route from the 1830s.

The first references to a bridge in the town occur in documents of 5 January 1398–9 and 1438–9. Known as the Wich Bridge (also Wiche or Wych), it was a timber structure on which stood St Ann's Chapel and four shops. Medieval chapels built on bridges also existed in other Cheshire towns, including Congleton and . Few bridge chapels now survive in Britain, but a good example is the Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin in Wakefield, which dates from around 1350. A priest would have said prayers for the safety of travellers on payment of a fee. The fate of St Ann's Chapel is unknown, but it is not mentioned in records of chantry chapels of 1545, and had presumably closed before that date.

...
Wikipedia