Clow Beck Pack Horse Bridge, Near Monk End Farm

CROFT ON TEES

1454/0/10002 CROFT-ON-TEES 06-JUL-05 Clow Beck Pack Horse Bridge, near Monk End Farm

II Packhorse bridge. Possibly 15th century in origin, 17th and 18th century repairs. Limestone with some handmade brick. Two unequal arches on differing alignments forming a bent bridge. Both arches are segmental with single arch rings of voussoirs. Broad central pier has rough rounded cutwater on upstream side with modern concrete skirt. Low parapet mainly rubble or brick wall with chamfered coping, but some sections formed with large chamfered blocks. Deck not replaced by modern materials but retains cobbling. Known Quarter Session records relating to the bridge survive in the County Record Office for 1677 and for nine sessions between 1710 and 1781. Noted in E. Hinchcliffe 1994 "A Guide to the Packhorse Bridges of England"

Good example of a vernacular bridge retaining evidence of a long history of intermittent maintenance preserved in its structure and contemporary records.