Description and History of Site:-
Yarm bridge has over the centuries been altered, widened, and its appearance changed. Masonry of two of the original pointed arches, Circa 1400, can be seen in the centre of the bridge on the upstream side of the River Tees. This bridge was the lowest on the Tees, and therefore of great importance, until the building of Stockton Bridge in 1771. It was built in 1400 by Walter Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, and substantial parts of his structure still survive and can be detected by examining the underside of the arches. That the stone bridge is still extant is the result of an unhappy accident to the bridge which was intended to replace it. This second bridge stood on the west side of the older one. It was designed by Thomas Wilson, engineer of the earlier and larger cast-iron bridge at Sunderland which had been completed in 1796. The Yarm bridge had an arch of 180 feet span (55 m), built up of six ribs of iron cast at the foundry of Messrs Walker of Rotherham, and weighing a total of 250 tons. The structure was completed but, unfortunately, the abutments were not secure and the bridge collapsed into the river at midnight of 12 January, 1806. No further venture with cast iron was attempted; instead, Bishop Skirlaw's bridge was improved and widened.

Further Reading and References:-
Jervoise, E. The ancient bridges of the north of England. Architectural Press, 1931; reprinted by E. P. Publishing, 1973, p57.
Morris, C H. Bridges over the Tees. Research Report No 7, Cleveland Industrial Archaeology Society, 2000.
Harrison, J K and Almond, J K. Industrial archaeology in Cleveland - a guide. Cleveland Industrial Archaeology Society, 1978.
YAHS - Hatcher Card Index. Research funded by the Yorkshire Arts Association 1972.
Hatcher, J. The Industrial Architecture of Yorkshire. Phillimore, 1985.
Atkinson F, Industrial Archaeology of North East England, Volume 2 The Sites,1974

Help us improve this entry

The compilers welcome corrections or additional information on all sites.
Any information provided will be verified before appearing on the web site.

Email comments

Key Words :- masonry bridge river tees

Viewing the Site :- Can be viewed from the public footpath and road

Address :- A67, Yarm Road, Yarm, North Yorkshire, TS15 9BY
Grid Ref :- NZ 41800 13140
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.511850 , Long -1.355895
Local Authority :- Stockton on Tees Borough Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - North Riding
Site Status :- Scheduled Ancient Monument SAM
Historic England List No - 1105658,
Site Condition :- Operational site, in use for original purpose
Site Dates :- circa 1400 - current
Record Date :- 1 July 2015

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Charles Morris