Drive Bridge over River Gaunless

The Drive Bridge over the River Gaunless, built in 1757 for Bishop Richard Trevor, is a notable structure made of coursed squared sandstone blocks, featuring finely tooled ashlar voussoirs, an archivolt, and copings.

This single-span bridge crosses the River Gaunless at a right angle, with approach causeways on either end that splay out at acute angles in two stages. The bridge has a single segmental arch that is 3.62 meters wide and spans approximately 12 meters. Each side of the bridge features an arch ring made of voussoirs and a raised keystone, topped with a narrow square-section archivolt that is slightly raised above the arch ring but flush with the keystone. The spandrels are flush with the archivolt and blend into the parapet walls, which do not have a string course to indicate the road deck level. The flat-topped parapet copings have chamfered edges.

The short, ramped approach causeways have a chamfered setback at the level where the archivolt springs, and they are not visually distinct from the wing walls above them. Both elevations of the bridge are identical, except for the keystone on the western (downstream) side, which is inscribed with "RD 1757," referring to Richard Dunelm, or Bishop Richard Trevor of Durham. Additionally, there is a pedestrian cast-iron kissing gate at the north-east corner of the bridge, featuring an octagonal gatepost with an ornate finial, while the gate and surrounding enclosure consist of simple rectangular bars for the uprights and rails.