{{about|the bridge in Chester|the bridge and district in Aberdeen|Bridge of Dee|the village in Dumfries and Galloway|Bridge of Dee, Galloway}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}} {{Use British English|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox Bridge |bridge_name= Old Dee Bridge |image= Old Dee Bridge, Chester (1).JPG |caption= Old Dee Bridge |official_name= |crosses= River Dee |locale= Chester, Cheshire, England |maint= |id= |designer= |design= Arch bridge |material= Sandstone |spans= 7 |carries= Bridge Street<br />(vehicles and pedestrians) |mainspan= |length= |width= |height= |load= |clearance= |below= |traffic= |open= |closed= |heritage= Grade I |toll=None |troll= |map_cue= |map_image= |map_text= |map_width= |coordinates= {{coord|53.185506|-2.888718|type:landmark_scale:2000_region:GB}} }} The '''Old Dee Bridge''' in Chester, Cheshire, England, is the oldest bridge in the city. It crosses the River Dee carrying the road that leads from the bottom of Lower Bridge Street and the Bridgegate to Handbridge. A bridge on this site was first built in the Roman era, and the present bridge is largely the result of a major rebuilding in 1387. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building,<ref name=Images>{{NHLE |num=1375850 |desc=Old Dee Bridge, Chester |accessdate=15 July 2012|mode=cs2}}</ref> and is a scheduled monument.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1006771 |desc=Dee Bridge, Chester |accessdate=15 July 2012 |mode=cs2|fewer-links=x}}</ref><ref name="Ref_">{{cite web |url= http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=69114 |title=Pastscape: Dee Bridge |access-date= 4 April 2009 |publisher=Historic England|mode=cs2 }}</ref>
==History== [[File:Old Dee Bridge.jpg|thumb|left|Old Dee Bridge ''circa'' 1765–80, in a painting attributed to Edmund Garvey]] The original bridge was built for the Romans and probably had stone piers carrying a timber carriageway. This seems to have disappeared by the 10th century, as in the reign of Queen Æthelflæd of Mercia (AD 911–918) there was only a ferry.{{sfn|Jervoise|1936|p=25}}
A bridge had been built by 1086, when the Domesday Book records that the Provost of Chester Castle could summon a man from every hide of land in Cheshire to rebuild Chester's walls and bridge.{{sfn|Jervoise|1936|p=26}} The bridge was reached by a causeway, which according to a manuscript in the Harleian Collection was built for Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester (died 1101) along with watermills on the Dee at that point.{{sfn|Jervoise|1936|p=26}}
The bridge was repaired in the next two centuries but in 1279–80 the timber superstructure was swept away.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} Further repairs were made by Sir Thomas de Ferrers, Justice of Chester in about 1347–49{{sfn|Jervoise|1936|p=27}} and by Stephen de Merton in the 1350s.{{sfn|Jervoise|1936|pp=27–28}}
In 1357 Edward, the Black Prince ordered the mayor and citizens of Chester to make: <blockquote>''...with all speed their part of the bridge of Dee... in the same manner and style as the remainder of the bridge which has been newly made.''<ref name=Jervoise28>{{harvnb|Jervoise|1936|p=28.}}</ref></blockquote>
It is likely that this rebuilding resulted in the bridge that exists today.{{sfn|Ward|2009|p=56}} In 1367 the citizens of Chester were granted murage (the toll for repair of the town walls) but all profits went ''"to the fabric and for the repair of the bridge"''.<ref name=Jervoise28/> In December 1388 a grant of pontage was made to the "mayor, bailiffs and good men of Chester" for a period of three years.<ref name=Jervoise28/> thumb|One of the pointed arches The bridge is built in local red sandstone. It has seven arches, all of which are of different dimensions.<ref name=Images/> The two northernmost arches formerly spanned the leat leading to the mills. The southernmost arch replaced the medieval drawbridge.
A tower was built on the bridge between 1399 and 1407, as part of the city's defences.{{sfn|Driver|1971|p=54}} In 1407 a moiety (''i.e.'' half) of the murage was allowed to complete the tower gatehouse on the bridge.<ref name=Jervoise28/>
The gatehouse was demolished in 1781.{{sfn|Langtree|Comyns|2001|pp=84–85}} In 1825–26 the bridge was widened by Thomas Harrison to provide a footway on the upstream side.{{sfn|Hartwell|Hyde|Hubbard|Pevsner|2011|pp=249–250}} Around this time it was decided that it was becoming inadequate for the expected traffic and it was decided to build an additional bridge to link the city with North Wales. The result was the Grosvenor Bridge, designed by Thomas Harrison and officially opened in 1832 although it was not finished for traffic to cross it until 1 January 1834.{{sfn|Jervoise|1936|p=32}}
==See also== {{Portal|Cheshire}} *Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire West and Chester *List of works by Thomas Harrison
==References== {{Reflist|33em}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book |last=Driver |first=J.T. |year=1971 |title=Cheshire in the Later Middle Ages |series=A History of Cheshire |volume=6 |others=Series Editor: J.J. Bagley |publisher=Cheshire Community Council }} *{{cite book |last=Hartwell |first=Clare |last2=Hyde |first2=Matthew |last3=Hubbard |first3=Edward |author3-link=Edward Hubbard (architectural historian) |last4=Pevsner |first4=Nikolaus |author4-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |year=2011 |orig-year=1971 |title=Cheshire |edition=revised |series=The Buildings of England |location=New Haven and London |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-17043-6 }} *{{cite book |last=Jervoise |first=Edwyn |year=1936 |title=The Ancient Bridges of Wales and Western England |volume=IV |location=Westminster |publisher=The Architectural Press for the SPAB |pages=25–31}} *{{cite book |editor1-last=Langtree |editor1-first=Stephen |editor2-last=Comyns |editor2-first=Alan |year=2001 |title=2000 Years of Building: Chester's Architectural Legacy |place=Chester |publisher=Chester Civic Trust |isbn=0-9540152-0-7 }} *{{cite book |last=Ward |first=Simon |year=2009 |title=Chester: A History |location=Chichester |publisher=Phillimore & Co |isbn=978-1-86077-499-7 }} {{refend}}
==External links== {{commons category|Old Dee Bridge, Chester}} *{{oscoor gbx|SJ40616573}} *[https://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/SJ4065?class=Bridge Images at geograph]
{{coord|53.185506|N|2.888718|W|scale:3000_type:isle_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SJ4061065731)|display=title}} {{Crossings navbox |structure = Crossings |place = River Dee |bridge = Old Dee Bridge |bridge signs = |upstream = Queens Park Bridge |upstream signs = |downstream = Grosvenor Bridge (Chester) |downstream signs = }}
Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1387 Category:Bridges in Cheshire Category:Buildings and structures in Chester Category:Grade I listed bridges in England Category:Grade I listed buildings in Chester Category:Bridges across the River Dee, Wales Category:Scheduled monuments in Cheshire Category:Thomas Harrison buildings Category:Arch bridges in the United Kingdom Category:Bridges completed in the 14th century Category:Former toll bridges in England