Bridge Carrying North Road Over River Beane At Ngr Tl 3141 1349

HERTFORD

TL3113SW NORTH ROAD, Goldings 817-1/5/297 Bridge carrying North Road over River Beane at NGR TL 3141 1349

II

Bridge. 1869. One of a series built by Robert Smith, owner of Goldings. Reconstructed and strengthened by Hertfordshire County Surveyor late 1980s. Lower girders replaced with reinforced concrete beams; moulded cast-iron cover plate above, pierced balustrade panels with pattern of 3 circles, with 3 triangles above and below, moulded top rail, barleysugar twist columns with pyramidal caps. Yellow brick abutments with stone bands and red recessed panels, piers with roll moulded stone caps with low pyramidal tops, curved brick parapet walls with stone copings on approaches. HISTORICAL NOTE: Robert Smith inherited the Goldings estate in 1861 and demolished the old mansion, diverting and reconstructing the nearby Watton Turnpike, and building a series of bridges in 1869 to carry the road, and the drive to Goldings over the 'Goldings Canal' and mill race of the River Beane. (Hertfordshire Countryside: Campbell D: Goldings: a curious Hertfordshire Mansion: Letchworth: 1946-1973: 34-5, 38; Dixon R: Victorian Architecture: London: 1978-: 50-2, 257; Girouard M: The Victorian Country House: New Haven and London: 1979-: 84-5, 438).

Listing NGR: TL3140713481