Crawford Bridge, Spetisbury, Dorsetshire
Records show that a bridge must have existed here before 1235 when forty days of indulgence were granted to any who contributed to the structure's repair. The present Crawford Bridge, one of the twenty oldest in the county, probably dates from the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries.
The bridge consists of nine nearly semi-circular arches with spans from twelve to twenty feet. Five of the arches are ribbed. On the north side, alternate cutwaters are extended to the level of the parapet wall to give four triangular pedestrian refuges.
The bridge leaves the west bank from a tiny shingle beach and bends southwards at its eastern end.
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Edith Coker, the abbess of Tarrant Crawford Abbey, was appointed to recieve the gifts for the repair of the bridge. |
Records show that a bridge must have existed here before 1235 when forty days of indulgence were granted to any who contributed to the structure's repair. The present Crawford Bridge, one of the twenty oldest in the county, probably dates from the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries.
The bridge was largely rebuilt in 1506 and repaired in 1705 and again in 1719. In 1819 the bridge was widened to twelve feet between the parapets. The downstream cutwaters were removed and the two sides of the bridge now look quite different.
Monica Hutchins records the memoirs of Arthur Field, vicar of Spetisbury and Charlton Marshall, in her book about the Stour (Dorset River). In the Rev. Field's time, in the early 20th century, large numbers of eels were taken from hatches near the ancient Crawfrod Bridge for sale in Blandford Forum and Wimborne Minster.
