Bridge Carrying North Road Over River Beane At Ngr Tl 3149 1410

The bridge carrying North Road over the River Beane was built in 1869 as part of a series constructed by Robert Smith, the owner of Goldings. In the late 1980s, it was reconstructed and strengthened by the Hertfordshire County Surveyor. This double span bridge features an intermediate brick pier and has had its lower girders replaced with reinforced concrete beams. It is adorned with a moulded cast-iron cover plate above and has pierced balustrade panels that display a pattern of three circles with three triangles above and below. The bridge includes a moulded top rail and barley-sugar twist columns topped with pyramidal caps. The abutments are made of yellow brick with stone bands and red recessed panels, while the piers have roll moulded stone caps with low pyramidal tops. The approaches are flanked by curved brick parapet walls with stone copings.

Historically, Robert Smith inherited the Goldings Estate in 1861, where he demolished the old mansion, diverted and reconstructed the nearby Watton Turnpike, and built a series of bridges in 1869 to carry the road and the drive to Goldings over the 'Goldings Canal' and the mill race of the River Beane.