Coldstream Bridge

Coordinates: 55°39′14″N 2°14′31″W / 55.654°N 2.242°W / 55.654; -2.242

Coldstream Bridge
The bridge over the River Tweed at Coldstream
Coldstream Bridge  Coldstream Bridge shown within Northumberland
OS grid reference	NT848401
List of places: UK • England • Northumberland

Coldstream Bridge, linking Coldstream, Scottish Borders with Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumberland, is an 18th century Grade II* listed bridge between England and Scotland, across the River Tweed. A plaque on the bridge commemorates the 1787 visit of the poet Robert Burns to the Coldstream. Of historical note is the toll house on the Scottish side of the bridge, which became infamous for the runaway marriages that took place there, as at Gretna Green. It ceased to be a toll bridge in 1826.

The architect for the bridge was the famed John Smeaton (responsible for the third Eddystone Lighthouse), working for the Tweed Bridges Trust. Construction lasted from 1763 to 1767, when it opened. It is a road bridge, the arches having equal length. It currently carries the A697 road across the Tweed.

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 from Edinburgh's banks, which were to be paid back by the tolling system. There was controversy when the project's resident engineer, Robert Reid (mason) of Haddington^[1], 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.^[2]

The bridge underwent subsequent work, including the 1784 construction of a downstream weir as an anti-erosion measure, concrete reinforcement of the foundations in 1922 and significant work in the early 1960s to strengthen the bridge and widen the road.

See also

• List of places in the Scottish Borders
• List of places in Scotland

References

1. ^ Footnote to Letter from Jane Welsh, The Carlyle Letters Online, JBW to Thomas Carlyle, 8 Jan 1823; DOI: 10.1215/lt-18230108-JBW-TC-01; CL 2: 262-265 http://carlyleletters.dukejournals.org/cgi/content/full/2/1/lt-18230108-JBW-TC-01?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=%22robert+reid%22&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
2. ^ SINE project http://www.sine.ncl.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=1430

External links

• Information from the SINE project, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
• Tweed bridges
• Guide to Coldstream
• Marriages at the toll house

This article about a Northumberland building or structure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Bridges across the River Tweed Bridges in the Scottish Borders Grade II* listed buildings in Northumberland Category A listed buildings in Scotland Listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Listed bridges in Scotland Bridges completed in 1767 Anglo-Scottish border Scottish building and structure stubs United Kingdom bridge (structure) stubs Northumberland building and structure stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР VCC Marvé Beach Look at other dictionaries: Coldstream — Koordinaten 55° 39′ N, 2° 15′ W …   Deutsch Wikipedia Coldstream — For other places with the same name, see Coldstream (disambiguation). Coordinates: 55°39′05″N 2°15′15″W / 55.65147°N 2.25423°W / …   Wikipedia Coldstream railway station — Coldstream Location Place Cornhill on Tweed, Coldstream Area Northumberland Grid reference …   Wikipedia Coldstream —    COLDSTREAM, a burgh of barony, market town, and parish, in the county of Berwick, 14 miles (S. W.) from Berwick; containing 2857 inhabitants, of whom 1913 are in the town, and 150 in the village of New Coldstream. This parish, which is of… …   A Topographical dictionary of Scotland Dryburgh Bridge — Dryburgh Suspension Bridge Dryburgh Bridge refers to two different footbridges erected near Dryburgh Abbey, Borders, Scotland, between the villages of Dryburgh and St. Boswells (part of a ribbon of settlements including Newtown …   Wikipedia Union Bridge (Tweed) — Infobox Bridge bridge name= Union Bridge caption= Union Bridge viewed from Scotland official name= Union Bridge also known as= Chain Bridge carries= 1 lane of roadway crosses= River Tweed locale= Northumberland and Scottish Borders maint= Tweed… …   Wikipedia Newstead, Scottish Borders — The railway bridge at Leaderfoot Coordinates …   Wikipedia Melrose, Scottish Borders — Coordinates: 55°35′53″N 2°43′52″W / 55.598°N 2.731°W / 55.598; 2.731 …   Wikipedia Anglo-Scottish border — Border country redirects here. For the novel, see Border Country (novel). Map of the modern border Scotland is to the north and England is to the south …   Wikipedia List of historic buildings and architects of the United Kingdom — The Historic buildings of the United Kingdom date from the stone age to the twenty first century AD, and tell the story of the architecture of the United Kingdom.See also: List of British architects Pre Historic buildings structures Roman… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”