Coldstream Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The bridge over the River Tweed at Coldstream | |
| Coordinates | 55°39′14″N2°14′31″W / 55.654°N 2.242°W /55.654; -2.242 |
| Carries | Road traffic |
| Crosses | River Tweed |
| Locale | Northumberland, England/ Scottish Borders, Scotland |
| Heritage status | Category A/Grade II* listed |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Sandstone blocks |
| History | |
| Architect | John Smeaton |
| Engineering design by | Robert Reid |
| Construction start | 1763 |
| Construction end | 1766 |
| Construction cost | £6,000 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | Single carriageway |
| Toll | No |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Coldstream Bridge | |
Coldstream Bridge, linkingColdstream,Scottish Borders withCornhill-on-Tweed,Northumberland, is an 18th-centuryCategory A/Grade II* listedbridge betweenEngland andScotland, across theRiver Tweed. The bridge carries theA697 road across the Tweed.
The bridge is one of three bridges spanning theRiver Tweed section of theAnglo-Scottish border (the others being theUnion Chain Bridge and theLadykirk and Norham Bridge), and the oldest of the three.
Thearchitect for the bridge wasJohn Smeaton (responsible for the thirdEddystone Lighthouse), working for theTweed Bridges Trust. Construction lasted from July 1763 to 28 October 1766, when it opened to traffic.[1]
The cost of the bridge was£6,000, with government grants available for the project and the shortfall covered by a mixture of local subscription and loans fromEdinburgh's banks, which were to be paid back by the tolling system. There was controversy when the project's residentengineer,Robert Reid of Haddington,[2] used some of the funds to build accommodation for himself, but the trustees were assuaged when Smeaton argued that the house would actually help support the bridge. It seems that Smeaton was sympathetic to Reid, believing him to be underpaid for his work.[3]
The bridge underwent subsequent work, including the 1784 construction of a downstreamweir as an anti-erosion measure,concrete reinforcement of thefoundations in 1922, alterations in 1928, and major work in 1960–1961 to strengthen the bridge and widen the road.
Aplaque on the bridge commemorates the 1787 visit of thepoetRobert Burns to the Coldstream.[1] Of historical note is thetoll house on the Scottish side of the bridge, which became infamous for the runawaymarriages that took place there, as atGretna Green, hence its name, the 'Wedding House' or 'Marriage House'.[1] It ceased to be atoll bridge in 1826.
The Coldstream Bridge 'that part in England' (Northumberland) was Grade II* listed in 1952, being described in theEnglish Heritage listing as "an ambitious, well-proportioned, and carefully-detailed C18 bridge design."[1]
The Coldstream Bridge '(that part in Scotland) over the Tweed' (Scottish Borders) was Category A listed in 1971, being described in theHistoric Scotland listing as "A very fine example of an 18th century bridge design by pre-eminent civil engineer John Smeaton, his first example of a bridge executed in fine dressed sandstone with classical detailing and forming a prominent structure in the landscape of the border between Scotland and England."[4]
The bridge is made of "squared and tooledsandstone blocks withashlar dressings".[1] A circularoculus in thespandrel above each pier is filled in withwhinstone rubble. The five mainarches each have an arch band and a triplekeystone; the arches grow larger and higher towards the bridge's centre. There is a smaller semicircularflood arch at either end, with pendent keystones. A weir named the Cauld immediately downstream of the bridge has protected it from erosion since 1785.[1]
