Bow Bridge, Iwood

Bow Bridge (/boʊ/ ⓘ) is a Grade II listed stone arched bridge, that crosses the Congresbury Yeo at Iwood, a hamlet of Congresbury in North Somerset. The bridge is largely intact and dates from the late 18th or early 19th century. It is constructed from local stone with a single span arch of approximately 5.5 metres (18 feet). The single-coursed stone parapet is low in height and consists of a row of voussoirs and an unmetalled farm track. It is in close proximity to two other Grade II listed bridges to the east and southeast of Congresbury.

Bow Bridge
The bridge is shown spanning the river that is bordered by embankments covered in grass. There is shrubbery in the background and the parapet is covered in grass and weeds. Wooden fencing is visible to the left of the image.
Bow Bridge as seen from the north bank
Coordinates51.364047°N 2.790557°W / 51.364047; -2.790557
CrossesCongresbury Yeo
LocaleIwood, Congresbury, North Somerset, England
NSHER[lower-alpha 1]MNS8828
Characteristics
DesignSingle-span arch bridge
Longest span5.5 metres (18 feet)
History
BuiltBefore 1814
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameBow Bridge over River Yeo
Designated26 October 2007 (2007-10-26)
Reference no.1392284
Location

Etymology

The name "Bow" is a cognate of the Welsh word bwa (/ˈbuː.a/) "arch", both being derived from the Old English boga, "bow" (as in bow and arrow) or "arch".[2][3] In West Country dialect, a "bow" is a name for a stone arched bridge that spans a river or rhyne.[4]: 3  A "bow" can also refer to a river abruptly changing course (as in oxbow lake).[5]: 12 

History

The bridge has been dated to the late 18th or early 19th century but a more precise date has proved difficult to ascertain. Gradiometry and resistivity surveys at Iwood have found little evidence of mediaeval occupation.[6]: 35  Furthermore, before 1814, there is an absence of cartography, apart from John Jacob de Wilstar's survey of lands for Queen Elizabeth's Hospital in 1739, that documented a limited number of land owners.[7]: 6  However, the bridge does appear on the 1814 Congresbury enclosure map on lands held by Benjamin Thayer, a farmer at Iwood Farm, that had been occupied in the 18th century by James Wreach.[8][6]: 35  In particular, the bridge is shown crossing Thayer's land north of the river at the River Ground (number 1586 on the 1839 tithe map),[6]: 7  to pasture land on the south (number 1785 on the tithe map).[9]: 5–6 

On 26 March 1810, Young Sturge and James Staples, the Commissioners of Enclosure for Congresbury, Wick St. Lawrence, and Puxton,[10]: 126  invited tenders from builders and masons to build a bridge in the Great or New Moor, over the Congresbury Yeo.[11][lower-alpha 2] Edward Lukins, a mason at Yatton,[13] won the tender, and together with Thayer, signed contracts with the commissioners on 23 April 1810.[14] The contract value was £280 (equivalent to £21,100 in 2021),[14] a substantial sum when compared to average agricultural wages at the time of around £30 per year.[15] In total, the Congresbury enclosure improved, or caused to be built, 398 bridges and gates, at a cost of £1,314 (equivalent to £99,200 in 2021).[10]: 126  These enclosure costs were a burden for many landowners as they often had to sell part of their land, and less commonly, mortgage other properties, to meet the expenses imposed by the commissioners.[16]: 236  Thayer farmed the land around the bridge until his death on Christmas Day 1860,[17] and on 20 February 1861, the farm and lands were sold at auction.[18]

Features and architecture

The bridge is constructed from local stone with a single span arch of approximately 5.5 metres (18 feet). The single-coursed stone parapet is low in height and consists of a row of voussoirs.[8] An unmetalled farm track traverses the top of the bridge.[9]: 6  On 26 October 2007, the bridge was designated as a Grade II listed building by Historic England as it is a "substantially intact late-C18 or early-C19 bridge over the River Yeo ... [and] possesses strong group value with other bridges of a similar date and style."[8] The bridge can be reached from a public footpath running along the north bank of the Congresbury Yeo,[9]: 4  in close proximity to two other Grade II listed bridges to the east and southeast of Congresbury,[9]: 6  namely Collins Bridge and Bridge over River Yeo.[19][20]

The river and bridge are surrounded by shrubs and green algae grows under the arch of the bridge.
View from the north bank
The top of the bridge is shown with grass growing amongst scattered white stones. Two tyre tracks are visible and a modern aluminium farm gate can be seen at the south end of the bridge.
Unmetalled track
Close-up of the voussoirs that make up the low stone parapet of Bow Bridge. The stones are shown with spots of yellow lichen and grass growing from earth at the top of the arch. A modern aluminium farm gate can be seen in the background.
Voussoirs that make up the stone parapet
Bow Bridge over the Congresbury Yeo

See also

Footnotes
  1. North Somerset Historic Environment Record.[1]
  2. The Great, or North, Moor of Congresbury was common land until it was enclosed around 1813 and became known as the New Moor on the enclosure maps.[12]: 13 

References
  1. Strategic Developments Team (2023). "Historic Environment Record". n-somerset.gov.uk. Weston‑super‑Mare: North Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  2. Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS) (2023). "Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru" [Dictionary of the Welsh Language]. www.geiriadur.ac.uk. Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales for the University of Wales. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  3. Barnhart, Robert Knox; Steinmetz, Sol, eds. (2004). Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-550-14230-6. OCLC 751053790. Retrieved 26 September 2023. Published previously as Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology.
  4. Russett, Vincent Edward John (March 2015). Dialect Words from North Somerset. Place and Feature Names in Somerset Dialect, Occasionally Used in YCCCART Reports (PDF) (Report) (1 ed.). Weston‑super‑mare: Yatton, Congresbury, Claverham and Cleeve Archaeological Research Team (YCCCART). pp. 1–12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  5. Atkin, Mary A. (February 2001). "Bows, Bowmen and Bowers". Journal of the English Place‑Name Society. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society. 34: 5–14. ISSN 1351-3095. OCLC 725910560.
  6. Russett, Vincent Edward John, ed. (October 2010). Gradiometry Survey at Iwood (Mr Collins Fields 2 & 3) (PDF) (Report) (1 ed.). Weston‑super‑mare: Yatton, Congresbury, Claverham and Cleeve Archaeological Research Team (YCCCART). pp. 1–40. North Somerset Historic Environment Record 2011/028. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  7. Russett, Vincent Edward John, ed. (June 2013). Gradiometry Survey at Iwood (Mr Collins Field 10) (PDF) (Report) (1 ed.). Weston‑super‑mare: Yatton, Congresbury, Claverham and Cleeve Archaeological Research Team (YCCCART). pp. 1–15. North Somerset Historic Environment Record 2013/70. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  8. "Bow Bridge over River Yeo". historicengland.org.uk. Iwood: Historic England. 26 October 2007. 1392284. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  9. Russett, Vincent Edward John, ed. (March 2011). Gradiometry Survey at Iwood (Mr Collins Fields 5 & 6) (PDF) (Report) (1 ed.). Weston‑super‑mare: Yatton, Congresbury, Claverham and Cleeve Archaeological Research Team (YCCCART). pp. 1–17. North Somerset Historic Environment Record 2011/214. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  10. Buchanan, Brenda June (1982). Mingay, Gordon Edmund (ed.). "The Financing of Parliamentary Waste Land Enclosure: Some Evidence from North Somerset, 1770–1830" (PDF). Agricultural History Review. Reading: British Agricultural History Society. 30 (2): 112–126. ISSN 0002-1490. JSTOR 40274210. OCLC 9973032225. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  11. "Congresbury Inclosure. To Masons and Builders". Bristol Mirror. Vol. 36. 7 April 1810. p. 1. OCLC 751708977. Retrieved 28 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. Moulin, Tony; Moulin, Faith (2003). Belcher, Peter (ed.). "The Natural History of Ten Acres". Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists' Society. Bristol: Bristol Naturalists' Society. 62: 12–23. ISSN 0068-1040. OCLC 1065238054. BHL page 46706929. Retrieved 28 September 2023 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  13. "Agreement between Edward Lukins, Yatton, mason, and Governors of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital. Alterations to The Ship and Castle Inn, Congresbury" (15 November 1815). Miscellaneous agreements, contracts and papers made by the Corporation, ID: 14180/5. Bristol: Bristol Archives. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  14. Burges, Daniel; Payne, Robert. "Contract for building a bridge" (23 April 1810). Records of Brice and Burges, Solicitors, c. 1775 – c. 1905, Series: Congresbury Inclosure, 1813–1816, ID: 44352/5/1/12. Bristol: Bristol Archives. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  15. McCloskey, Deirdre Nansen (1994). "1700–1860: a survey". In Floud, Roderick; McCloskey, Deirdre Nansen (eds.). The Economic history of Britain since 1700. 1700–1860. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 373. ISBN 978-0-521-41498-2. OCLC 27432071. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  16. Turner, Michael (May 1981). "Cost, Finance, and Parliamentary Enclosure". The Economic History Review. 2nd. London: Economic History Society. 34 (2): 236–248. doi:10.2307/2595244. ISSN 0013-0117. JSTOR 2595244. OCLC 5549797377.
  17. "Deaths". Bristol Mercury. Vol. 72, no. 3695. 12 January 1861. p. 8. ISSN 0307-5664. OCLC 751622486. Retrieved 28 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. "Desirable Freehold Farm & Lands in Congresbury, Somerset". Bristol Times and Mirror. Vol. 23, no. 1146. 9 February 1861. p. 1. OCLC 2252826. Retrieved 30 September 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. "Collins Bridge over River Yeo". historicengland.org.uk. Congresbury: Historic England. 26 October 2007. 1392285. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  20. "Bridge over River Yeo". historicengland.org.uk. Iwood: Historic England. 16 January 2003. 1350385. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.

Further reading
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