Wye Bridge, Monmouth
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Wye Bridge Pont ar Wy |
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| Coordinates | 51°48′41″N 2°42′36″W / 51.811373°N 2.709876°WCoordinates: 51°48′41″N 2°42′36″W / 51.811373°N 2.709876°W |
| Carries | A466 |
| Crosses | River Wye |
| Locale | Monmouth, Wales |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Red and buff sandstone ashlar |
| No. of spans | 5 |
| History | |
| Construction end | 1615–17 1878-80 |
| Replaces | Earlier, wooden bridge |
The Wye Bridge in Monmouth is a bridge across the River Wye. The A466 passes over it and immediately meets the A40 at its western end. The bridge is a grade II listed building. The total span of the bridge is 71 metres.
The original wooden bridge was built in the Middle Ages; there is a clear reference to it in the fourteenth century. Earlier references to a bridge at Monmouth may refer either to a bridge over the Wye or to the fortified bridge over the Monnow, although local historian Keith Kissack wrote that the bridge was known to exist in 1282 when it formed a boundary with the Forest of Dean. It was completely rebuilt in stone in the early seventeenth century (1615–17). At that time, tolls were collected from all those crossing the bridge.
A plaque on the parapet records the widening of the bridge on both sides in 1878–80 under the architect Edwin Seward of Cardiff, stating, This bridge was widened 1879 from designs by the County Surveyor, David Roberts Contractor.
The bridge is built of red and buff sandstone ashlar. It has five arched spans with the original pointed arches visible beneath, but with both faces covered by segmental arches carried on the sharply pointed cutwaters.
The bridge is a crossing for the Wye but it is also the start of the Wysis Way which is a long footpath that connects Monmouth to the Kemble in Gloucestershire and to other National footpaths.
A466 crosses the Wye Bridge, view towards Monmouth School
Close up of an arch of the bridge
Plaque on the bridge: This bridge was widened in A.D 1879
postcard of the Wye Bridge in the 1930s
1910 Postcard depicting the Wye Bridge before 1890 after which the school expanded and demolished the Watermans Arms Public House
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