Silly Bridge (MLN14779)

MATERIALS: local red brick for the original (south or Down side) portion of the bridge; GWR red and purple engineering brick for the 1890s portion (north or Up side). English bond. Stone coping.

DESCRIPTION: from the south (Down) side) to the north (Up) side: the c. 1840 portion has a curved wing wall/abutment, a 17ft 6in [5.2m] side arch and the taller original central arch with a span of 30ft [9m]. The tapered piers have a single tapered transverse arch each. The c. 1893 portion commences with a widening of the north pier, from which springs an arch with a 26ft 6in [7.9m] span and finishes with curved abutment/wing walls. The two contrasting phases of brickwork are clearly delineated by a straight joint all the way from the foot of the northern pier to the coping, but otherwise all detailing is entirely consistent across both parts, including impost bands, roll-moulded string course, the original stone coping stones (reused on the 1893 portion) and terminating piers. The only exception is the parapets of the 1893 portion, which step up twice towards the higher cutting on the north side. Some engineering brick patching to the inner faces of the parapets, and recent wire mesh fencing attached to the coping.

Silly Bridge stands in a rural landscape in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty .