Index

to

The long bridge of Bideford

Trans. Devon Assoc. vol. 34, (1902), pp. 223-264.

by

Alexander G Duncan

Prepared by Michael Steer

Bideford's Long Bridge is the town's most iconic structure. The original Bridge spanning the River Torridge and connecting the East and West of the town was built of timber in 1286. In 1474 the original structure was replaced by the masonry arch bridge seen today. It is thought that the 24 arches of the bridge are different sizes because they were paid for by local businessmen, the larger arches costing the most. In the first decade of the 17th century, the bridge trustees were taken to court by the people of Bideford for feasting and seeing plays with the trust funds. The people won the court case although it is unclear whether the trustees were forced to resign after the scandal. Google with the Archive Organization has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. The Internet Archive makes available, in its Community Texts Collection (originally known as Open Source Books), books that have been digitised by Google from a number of libraries. These are books on which copyright has expired, and are available free for educational and research use. This rare book was produced from a copy held by the New York Public Library, and is available from the Internet Archive.