Forge Bridge And Weir

Forge Bridge and Weir is an accommodation bridge over the River Teme, built around 1772. It is constructed from sandstone ashlar and coursed sandstone rubble, featuring ashlar dressings. The main elliptical archway measures about 11 metres, with a similar smaller archway to the south that spans approximately 9 metres over an old mill race. Both arches are flanked by quadrant piers and topped with embattled parapets above corbel tables. The main archway is about 20 metres long, while the smaller archway is about 9 metres long. The connecting section of the bridge has a parapet with a ridged coping, and at each end, the parapet is splayed, also featuring a ridged coping that ends in a square pier with a shallow pyramidal capping. Beneath the connecting section and north of the main archway, there is a round-arched flood outlet. The total length of the bridge is about 73 metres and it is approximately 4.5 metres wide.

The bridge is located on the Downton Castle estate and may have been designed by Richard Payne Knight, who also designed Burrington Bridge and Castle Bridge upstream. The surveyor associated with the bridge is recorded as Pritchard, possibly Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, who designed the Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale between 1775 and 1777, and the bridge was built after his death in 1777.