Stopham Bridge

PULBOROUGH PETWORTH ROAD 1. 5404 Stopham Birdge TQ 01 NW 5/784 15.3.55

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2. This is partly in former Chanctonbury Rural District and partly in former Petworth Rural District, as the River Arun, which it spans, is the boundary between them. There is considerable diversity of opinion about the age of this bridge. T W Horsfield's History of Sussex says that it was built in 1309. A A Evans in an article in the Sussex County Magazine in 1936 (Vol 10) gives the date as 1423. E Jervoise's "Ancient Bridges of the South of England" says that the original bridge was built in 1347 and that the present structure is a replacement dating from the C16. The correct date is probably 1422-3. One span was destroyed in the Civil War and replaced by a "drawbridge". This was fenced in 1650. The centre arch was raised in 1822 and has this date on it. It is built of ironstone and consists of a high segmental arch in the centre and 2 lower round-headed ones on each side. There are blunt cutwaters between the arches. These are continued above the water level on the south side as half hexagonal buttresses and form recesses of this shape for pedestrians on the Bridge. On the north side the cutwaters are continued the whole height of the bridge as cutwaters and form triangular recesses on the Bridge. The Bridge was badly damaged by Army lorries during the war but has been repaired since. A.M.

Listing NGR: TQ0298318379