Monnow Bridge, in Monmouth, Wales, is the only remaining fortified river bridge in Great Britain with its gate tower standing on the bridge. The bridge crosses the River Monnow 500 metres above its confluence with the River Wye. Monmouth had been a significant border settlement since the Roman occupation of Britain, when it was the site of the fort of Blestium. The original bridge over the Monnow at Monmouth was constructed of wood in the mid-12th century.
About Monnow Bridge in brief
Monnow Bridge, in Monmouth, Wales, is the only remaining fortified river bridge in Great Britain with its gate tower standing on the bridge. The bridge crosses the River Monnow 500 metres above its confluence with the River Wye. Monmouth had been a significant border settlement since the Roman occupation of Britain, when it was the site of the fort of Blestium. The original bridge over the Monnow at Monmouth was constructed of wood in the mid-12th century. It was traditionally thought to have been built in 1272, though this date has no supporting documentary evidence. In the 20th century, it suffered increasing damage as higher volumes of traffic and the use of ever-larger vehicles led to several serious accidents. The gatehouse, which gives Monnow Bridge its unique appearance, was added at the end of the 13th century or at the start of the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. It is now a Grade I listed building and is used as a tourist attraction by artists Turner, Gastineau and Cotman. It also served as a gaol, a munitions store, a lodge, an advertising hoarding, a focus for celebrations and, most significantly, as a toll gate. In 1804, the Monmouth antiquarian Charles Heath wrote that the bridge’s foundation is so ancient that neither history or tradition afford any light respecting the date of its erection. The historian William Coxe incorrectly described the bridge as pre-dating the Norman Conquest and recorded that \”it commanded the passage of the Mon now and was a barrier against the Welsh\”.
In 1873, an earlier guide to the Antiquities of England and Wales, by Francis Grosese published in 1773, noted the significance of the date 1270 as the beginning of a period of increased bridge-building that saw increased international trade. The current bridge was built in the late 13th and early 14th century and was completed in the 16th. It has been the subject of significant reconstruction and rebuilding in the 18th and 19th centuries, the construction of a new road crossing to the south enabled the pedestrianisation of the bridge in the 21st century. In 1988, work on flood defences revealed remains of the wooden bridge directly under the existing one, and dendrochronological analysis indicated that its timber came from trees felled between 1123 and 1169. The Romans may have bridged the river Wye during their occupation, but the MonNow appears not to have had a crossing until after the Norman invasion. The Norman lord William FitzOsbern built a castle near the confluence of the two rivers in around 1070. The following two centuries saw the establishment of the Benedictine Priory and the development of the town as a defensive location on the Welsh Marches. In 1233, the Battle of Monmouth in 1233 was fought between supporters of Henry III and the forces of Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. Both the site and the specific bridge involved are debated—the local historian Keith Kissack argued that the battle was fought on Vauxhall Fields.
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This page is based on the article Monnow Bridge published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 23, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
