Wentbridge

Wentbridge is a small village in West Yorkshire in England.

Geography

The village used to be on the A1, which section of road is now the B6474, which also leads eventually to South Elmsall. The village is less than a mile from the boundary with North Yorkshire to the east, with the boundary following the A1 from the River Went to Barnsdale Bar, where this is the southern-most point of North Yorkshire. Close by to the south-west is the Roman Ridge roman road (A639). To the north is Darrington.

History

The village is named because it used to be the Great North Road's bridge over the River Went. Entrance to the village was down a steep valley which would have been a problem before motorised transport and later was a bottleneck. The village pub is the " [http://www.pub-explorer.com/thepubs/bluebellhotelpontefract.htm Blue Bell Inn] " on " [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/225074 Great North Road] ". The village [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/228779 church] is dedicated to St John the Evangelist.

Wentbridge Viaduct

To avoid the incline on the valley, when the village was bypassed at a cost of £800,000 in 1961, one of the largest viaducts in Europe (at that time) was [http://www.iht.org/motorway/a1redwenscheme.htm#wentbp built] to cross the Went valley at a [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/718101 height] of 30m using prestressed concrete. It is 92m long and was designed by FA (Joe) Sims, and [http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/foi_requests/5325.aspx became] a Grade II listed building on May 29 1998. It received an award thirty years after its construction from the [http://www.concrete.org.uk Concrete Society] .

External links

* [http://www.wentbridgehouse.co.uk Wentbridge House Hotel]
* [http://www.biffvernon.freeserve.co.uk/wentbridge.htm Village history]
* [http://www.mike-duffy.me.uk/wentbridge.htm Village photographs]