BRIDGE AT NGR TL 3410 1355

HERTFORD

TL3413NW THE NEW RIVER, THE KING'S MEAD 817-1/7/348 Bridge at NGR TL 3410 1355

II

Bridge, built to span the improved Hertford cut of the New River. c1837. Formed of curved cast-iron arch girders, 10 set close together with pierced spandrels, ornamental keystone, convex chordal profile, approx 5m span, set between concave curved abutments of yellow-brown stock brick, English bond. Outer arches and abutments carry cast-iron and wrought-iron post and rail handrails. HISTORICAL NOTE: the New River was constructed in 1608-13 by Sir Hugh Myddelton to provide water for London, with a 38 mile water course from Chadwell Spring, between Ware and Hertford. By early C18 the supply had become inadequate. In 1739 a new Act allowed water to be drawn from the River Lea near Hertford, to be measured by gauges, designed by Robert Mylne (1733-1811). The River Lee Act of 1855 gave the New River Company and the East London Waterworks Company the right to take the whole of the Lea water, with the exception of that required for navigation. An improved cut was made across the King's Meads, and a new Gauge House (qv), designed by William Chadwell Mylne (1761-1862) was built in 1856. (Thames Water: History of the New River: London: 1985-; The industrial archaeology of the British Isles: Branch Johnson W: Industrial Archaeology of Hertfordshire: Newton Abbot: 1970-: 97-101 167).

Listing NGR: TL3409913548