BRIDGE. 



Wc have many bridc^es of conrulerahlc note in onr own 

 country. Tlie triangular bridge at Croyhuid in Lincolnfliire, 

 which was erefted about the y:,-ar 860, is faid to be the moll 

 ancient Gothic ilruSiirc remaining entire in tlic kingdom. 

 There are two circiimllanc« intheconl>ruflion of thii bridge, 

 which render it an objeiS of great c\iriority. Firll, it is formed 

 by t'.iree fcmi-arches. wiiofe hafes Hand in the circnraference 

 of a circle, at equal dillances from each other. Thtfe unite 

 at the top ; and the triune nature of the llrnflure has led 

 fome to imagine that it was intended as an emblem of the 

 Trinity. Second! v, the afcei:t on each of the fcmi-arches is 

 bv lU'ps paved with fmiill ilones fet edge-ways, and isfo lleep, 

 that none but foot-pafTengers can go over the bridge : liorfe- 

 men and carriages frequently pafs under it, aa the river in that 

 place is but (hallow. For what purpofe this bridge was really 

 dellgncd, it is diificult, if not iinpoirible, to determine. Uti- 

 lity, it is obvious, was one of the leall motives to its eredliou. 

 To boldnefs of delign and lingulaiity of conllruftion it has 

 more powerful claims ; andthefe qualities it mud be allowed 

 to pofTefs in as great a degree as any bridge in Europe. Al- 

 though this bridge has been cretled fo many centuries, it ex- 

 hibits no marks of decay : twelve months ago there were no 

 fiffures to be perceived in either of the arches, and all that was 

 mifTc^ were a mound and fceptre, whicli have been torn from 

 the hands of a ftatue of king Ethelbert by the ruthlefs hand 

 of rime. 



London bridge is in the old Gothic ftyle, and had twenty 

 fmall locks or aichcs ; bi'.t there are now only 19 open, two 

 having lately been thrown iiito one in the centre. It is 940 

 feet long, 44 high, and 47 clear widtli between the parapets. 

 Tiie piers arv from 15 to 35 feet thick, with llerlings pro- 

 jei.ting at each fide and end, 10 that the ereatell water-way, 

 ■when the tide is above the (Itriings, is 545 feet, fcarcely half 

 the breadth of the river ; and below the llerlings the water- 

 way is reduced to 204 feet, cauling a dangerous fall at low 

 water. London bridge was firlt built with timber in the 

 reign of Ethelred. between the years 993 and 1016 ; it was 

 repaired, or rather rebuilt of tnnbtr in 1 163, and the prefent 

 ftone bridge was begun under king Henry II. in 1176, and 

 finifhed under king John in the year 1209. It is probable 

 there v.'cre no houies on the bridge for upwards of 200 years, 

 iince we read of a tilt and tournament held on it in IJ95. 

 Houfes were erected up'in it afterwards, but bemg found a 

 great inconvenience and nuiiance, they were removed in 

 17 ■jS, and the avenues to the bridge enlarged, and the 

 whole made more commodious : the two middle arches were 

 then thrown into one, by removing the pier from between 

 tiiem. The expence of the repairs amounted to above 

 8o,oool. 



There were other bridges in England built in the manner 

 of London bridge i as the bridge at Rochelter, which is 

 550 feet long, and has 1 1 arches ; alfo the late bridge at 

 Newcaitle upon Tyne, which was broken down by a great 

 flood in the year i77i,.for want of a fuflicient fpace for 

 water-way through the arches. The longetl bridge in 

 England is that over the Trent at Burton, built by Bernard 

 abbot of Burton, in the i.:th century. It is all of fquarcd 

 frce-ftone, and is ftrong and lolty, 1545 feet in lengtb, and 

 cor.fifting of 34 arches. 



The bridge at Blenheim confifts of three arches, the chief 

 of which fpans loi teet 6 inches. 



Near Old Aberdeen tiiere is a bridge over the river Don, 

 very much celebrated. It is in the Gothic tafte. There is 

 alfo a remarkable bridge called Sarah or Ifland bridge, built' 

 over t'ae LlfFcy above Dublin, ia the year 1792, by Mr. 

 Alexander Stevens, a mafon from Edinburgh : it confifts of 

 a fmgle elliptical arch ic5 feet fpan, and only riling 22 feet ; 



it is therefore fix feet wider than the Rialto at Venice, and 

 one foot Icfs in height. 



But the mod extraordinary bridge in Great Britain is, 

 doubtlefs, that over the rivei- TatV, n.-ar Llantvifstnt, in 

 Glamorganlhire, Called in Wellh Ponl y ty Pry.ld. This 

 is the work of Wdliam Edw irds, an uneducated mafon of 

 tlie country, who was only indebted fur his ikiU to his own 

 indudry and the p .vver ot iiis genius. He had engaged, in 

 1746, to build a ne>v bridge at this place, which he executed 

 in a Hyle fuperior to any thing of the kind in this or any part 

 of Wales, for u'-atnefs or workmanlhip, and elegance of delign. 

 "It confided of three arches, elegantly light in their conftnic- 

 lion. The hewn ilones were excellently well dreficd and 

 clofely jointed. It was admired by all who favv it. But 

 this river runs through a very deep vale that is more than 

 ufually woody, and crouded about with mountains. It is 

 alfo to be conlidcred, that many other rivers of no mean 

 capacity, as the Crue, the Bargoed TafT, and the Cunno, be- 

 fides almod numberlcfs brooks that run throutjh long, deep, 

 and well -wooded vales or glens, iall into the Taff in its pro- 

 grefs. The dcfctnts into thcfe vales from the mountains 

 being in general very deep, the water in long and lieavy rains 

 colleiis into thefe rivers with great rapidity and force, raif- 

 ing floods, that in their d.'fcriptions would appear abfolutely 

 incredible to the inhabitants of open and fliit countiies, 

 where the rivers are neither fo precipitate in their courfes, 

 nor havefuch hills on each iide to fwcll them with their tor- 

 rents. Such a flood unfortunately occurred after the com- 

 pletion of this undertaking, which tore up the largeft trees 

 by the roots, and carried them down the river to the bridge, 

 where the arches were not fufficiently wide to admit of their 

 paffage. Here, therefore, they were detained. Brufli-wood, 

 weeds, hay, draw, and whatever lay in the way of the flood, 

 came down, and colletled about the brandies of the trees, 

 that duck fad in the arches and choaked the free current of 

 the water. In confeqnence of this obdruclion to the flood, 

 a thick and drong dam, as it were, was thus formed. The 

 aggregate of lo many coUefled llreams being unable to get 

 any further, rofe here to a prodigious height, and, with the 

 force of Us prclfure, carried the bridge entirely away bcfove 

 it. William Edwards had given fccurity for the dability 

 of the bridge dui'ing the fpace of feven years ; of courfe he 

 was obliged to eredt another, and he proceeded on his duty 

 with ;ill pofllble ipeed. The bridge liad only ilood about 

 two years and a half. The fecond bridge was of one arch, 

 for the p'jrpofe of admitting freely under it whatever incum- 

 brances the floods might bring down. The fpan or chord 

 of this arch was 140 feet, its altitude 35 feet, the feg- 

 ment of a circle wlrofe diameter was 170 feet. The arch 

 was finidied, but the parapets not yet crefted, when fuch 

 was the preffure of the unavoidably ponderous work over 

 the haunches, that it fprung in the middle, and tiie key- 

 dones wei'e forced out. This was a fevere blow to a ma.n 

 who bad hitherto met with nothing but misfortune in an 

 enterprilc which was to edablilh or ruin him in his pio.*'eiiion. 

 William Edwards, however, poiTedcd a courage which did 

 not cafily forfake him ; he engaged in it 3 third time, and 

 by means of cylindrical holes through the haunches, fo re- 

 duced their weight, that there was no longer any danger 

 from it. The fecond bridge fell in 175 i ; the third, which 

 has dood ever fince, was completed in 17J5." (Mr. Mal- 

 kin's Tour in South Wales.) The prefent arch is 1 40 feet 

 in fpan, and 35 feet high, being a fegment of a cucle of 

 175 diameter. In eacli haunch there arc three cylindricjl 

 openingi running thi-oiigh from fide to iide ; the diameter 

 of the lowed is nine feet, of the next fix feet, and of the 

 upptr.Tioft. three feet. Tiie width of the bridge is about 



eleven 



