5 Bridges to Explore in Durham
Checkout places to visit in Durham
Durham is a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham in North East England. The city lies on the River Wear, to the southwest of Sunderland, south of Newcastle upon Tyne, and to the north of Darlington. Founded over the final resting place of St Cuthbert, its Norman cathedral became a center of pilgrimage in medieval England.
Activities Around
Bridges to Explore in Durham
Causey Arch bridge over the River Team near Tanfield was built by the Grand Allies in 1726. It is renowned to be the world's oldest surviving single-arch railway bridge. Horse-drawn wagons crossed the arch on Tanfield Railway to transport coal from local mines to the River Tyne. The Arch has been Grade I listed since 1950. It was restored and reinforced in the 1980s. There are a series of scenic public paths around the area and the Causey Burn which runs underneath it.
Elvet Bridge is a stone bridge that crosses the River Wear connecting the peninsula in central Durham and the Elvet area of the city. The bridge has 10 visible arches and further arches hidden under the road. The present Elvet Bridge replaced a slightly earlier one that was in the same location and is one of only three bridges left in England with buildings on them.
This, Durham's oldest bridge, was constructed in 1127 by Bishop Flambard, a man who did much in the way of constructing public 'buildings' in the city. As a strategic entry point into the city, it was well-defended by the castle to prevent it becoming a military weak-point. The current bridge is of two shallow arches, each with several reinforcing ribs.
Prebends Bridge is a Grade I listed structure and a scheduled monument which was designed by George Nicholson and built from 1772 to 1778. It is one of three masonry structures on the loop of river that surrounds the cathedral, and is now part of the Durham World Heritage Site.
An iron suspension footbridge with planked walkway, over the River Tees, by the Low Force waterfalls, near Holwick and Newbiggin. The bridge was built c.1820 for the Duke of Cleveland and is Grade II* listed. It was the first chain bridge in the western world after the Tibetan and Chinese onesChain bridges had not found imitators in the West for a long time.