Smeaton's Bridge is a Grade II listed building in the Central Bedfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 31 October 1966. A 19th century Bridge.
Smeaton's Bridge
- WRENN ID
- distant-rafter-indigo
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Constituency
- North Bedfordshire MP: Richard Fuller (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 31 October 1966
- Type
- Bridge
- Period
- 19th century
- Address
- Smeaton's Bridge, Southill
- OS grid reference
- TL 146 431
- Coordinates
- 52.07494, -0.3287
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Smeaton's Bridge is a bridge built around 1800, named after the engineer John Smeaton, who died in 1792 and was a friend of the Whitbread family. It is likely that the bridge was designed by Henry Holland, possibly using Smeaton's structural specifications, as part of his work on Southill Park for Samuel Whitbread II. The bridge is constructed of red brick, with the arch soffit faced in vitrified brick and features ashlar dressings. It has a single span with an elliptical arch. The parapets on both sides include stone piers and coping, with plain brick walling; the southern elevation, which overlooks the lake, has been partly rebuilt. The southern elevation is faced in stone and features simple decoration with incised panels and round-headed niches on the end piers. The parapet piers also have incised panel decoration.
Local climate
Smeaton's Bridge sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 96% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 87% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 33 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 56% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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