New Bridge or Newton Bridge is a Grade II* listed building in the Bath and North East Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 11 August 1972. Bridge.
New Bridge or Newton Bridge
- WRENN ID
- high-window-thistle
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Bath and North East Somerset
- Constituency
- Bath MP: Wera Hobhouse (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 11 August 1972
- Type
- Bridge
- Address
- New Bridge or Newton Bridge, Newbridge Road West and Bristol Road
- OS grid reference
- ST 716 657
- Coordinates
- 51.39037, -2.40839
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
New Bridge, also known as Newton Bridge, is a bridge located on Newbridge Road West and Bristol Road. It was originally constructed in 1727 with three arches by John Strahan. The bridge was rebuilt with a single arch in the late 18th century and widened by William Armstrong of Bristol between 1831 and 1834.
The bridge is made of limestone ashlar and features a single segmental arch that spans 28 meters, with approaches at both ends. The main arch has rusticated voussoirs, and the spandrels are lightened by circular tunnels with a raised rim. Above the arch is a continuous platband, and the cranked coped parapet adds to its design. The projecting abutments include refuges at road level, while the downstream abutments are plain. The upstream abutments are more decorative, featuring paired pilasters that are battered together to form a pylon with a sunk panel between them. This more monumental treatment may have been intended to be visually striking for travelers approaching from the high road. The approaches to the bridge have eight round-headed arches with cut-waters on either side of the bridge on the upstream side, while the Bath side curves towards the east. A blocked section on the downstream side suggests that there was no intention for these to serve as flood arches; rather, they were a method of building up the embankment.
Historically, the bridge may have been completely rebuilt in the 1830s, but visual evidence indicates that it was widened on both sides from a narrower late 18th-century design, resembling more of a Pont-y-pridd type. During this time, the approaches were also lengthened and raised to improve the gradient. This work was part of significant improvements made by the Bath Turnpike Trust during the General-Surveyorship of John Loudon McAdam from 1826 to 1836. According to John Wood's "Description of Bath" from 1749, the original bridge's drawings were made by Mr. Hobbs for John Strahan of Bristol, but the construction was carried out by Ralph Allen, likely as part of the improvements to the River Avon Navigation, which opened in 1727. The bridge was previously listed separately in Newton St Loe Civil Parish.
Local climate
New Bridge or Newton Bridge receives an average of 860 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 60% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 64% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 52% 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.
More on this building
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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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