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St Ives Bridge
St Ives Bridge is a 15th-century stone arch bridge crossing the River Great Ouse on the south side of St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. It carried the ancient main road to London over the river. It is notable for incorporating a chapel into the structure. It is a Grade I Listed Structure.
St Ives has long been an important religious and agricultural centre. As the town is located on the north side of the River Great Ouse, it was necessary for London-bound travel to cross the river. At first this was achieved by means of a ford, probably dating back well over a thousand years. The river was at that time much wider and much shallower.
The settlement that became St Ives, at first known as Slepe, was developed by the Abbot of Ramsey Abbey, probably Ednoth, who had founded the Priory of St Ivo there about AD 1000. In the year 1110 they obtained a Royal Charter from King Henry I authorising them to hold an annual fair in the town. They built the town's first bridge, a wooden structure, in 1107.
However the terrain on the south side was a marshy flood plain, according to Flanagan a causeway was made to traverse it:
It can be deduced that, at St Ives, the causeway comprised small bridges over the natural watercourses within the meadow, and for the rest of its length in between the bridges, there was a raised earth embankment which may have had a covering of stones or brushwood.
The wooden bridge required considerable maintenance, and in 1414 it was decided to replace it with a stone arch bridge; the work was carried out between 1415 and 1426. It was built with six arches of limestone from Barnack, quarried about 30 miles away on the River Welland near Peterborough. In the year of completion, a chapel on one pier of the bridge was added; it was dedicated to St Leger, sometimes spelt Ledger, or Leodegarius. The purpose of this and other bridge chapels was to allow travellers to pray or to give thanks for a safe journey.
In 1539 King Henry VIII set about the dissolution of the monasteries, and Ramsey Abbey was included. The ownership of the bridge and the chapel were separated: the bridges was passed to the Manor of St Ives, forming a lucrative asset because of the right to levy tolls. The chapel became a private house. The manor, and therefore the bridge, was crown property until 1628 when King Charles I sold it to the Earl of Manchester.
During the English Civil War, Cavalier forces loyal to the king were massing in Bedfordshire, and the roundhead forces, following Oliver Cromwell, needed to defend Cambridge. The roundheads partially demolished the bridges over the River Great Ouse at St Ives, St Neots and Huntingdon, replacing the demolished spans with drawbridges. At St Ives the two arches on the southern side were demolished, and a drawbridge was installed in 1645.
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St Ives Bridge AI simulator
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St Ives Bridge
St Ives Bridge is a 15th-century stone arch bridge crossing the River Great Ouse on the south side of St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. It carried the ancient main road to London over the river. It is notable for incorporating a chapel into the structure. It is a Grade I Listed Structure.
St Ives has long been an important religious and agricultural centre. As the town is located on the north side of the River Great Ouse, it was necessary for London-bound travel to cross the river. At first this was achieved by means of a ford, probably dating back well over a thousand years. The river was at that time much wider and much shallower.
The settlement that became St Ives, at first known as Slepe, was developed by the Abbot of Ramsey Abbey, probably Ednoth, who had founded the Priory of St Ivo there about AD 1000. In the year 1110 they obtained a Royal Charter from King Henry I authorising them to hold an annual fair in the town. They built the town's first bridge, a wooden structure, in 1107.
However the terrain on the south side was a marshy flood plain, according to Flanagan a causeway was made to traverse it:
It can be deduced that, at St Ives, the causeway comprised small bridges over the natural watercourses within the meadow, and for the rest of its length in between the bridges, there was a raised earth embankment which may have had a covering of stones or brushwood.
The wooden bridge required considerable maintenance, and in 1414 it was decided to replace it with a stone arch bridge; the work was carried out between 1415 and 1426. It was built with six arches of limestone from Barnack, quarried about 30 miles away on the River Welland near Peterborough. In the year of completion, a chapel on one pier of the bridge was added; it was dedicated to St Leger, sometimes spelt Ledger, or Leodegarius. The purpose of this and other bridge chapels was to allow travellers to pray or to give thanks for a safe journey.
In 1539 King Henry VIII set about the dissolution of the monasteries, and Ramsey Abbey was included. The ownership of the bridge and the chapel were separated: the bridges was passed to the Manor of St Ives, forming a lucrative asset because of the right to levy tolls. The chapel became a private house. The manor, and therefore the bridge, was crown property until 1628 when King Charles I sold it to the Earl of Manchester.
During the English Civil War, Cavalier forces loyal to the king were massing in Bedfordshire, and the roundhead forces, following Oliver Cromwell, needed to defend Cambridge. The roundheads partially demolished the bridges over the River Great Ouse at St Ives, St Neots and Huntingdon, replacing the demolished spans with drawbridges. At St Ives the two arches on the southern side were demolished, and a drawbridge was installed in 1645.