Newport's Town Bridge
The First Stone Bridge At Newport (1800 - 1927)
By Peter Brown
After the failure of Nash's plans for a stone bridge in 1792, a contract for £10,165 was later awarded to David Edwards, the son of the Caerphilly mason who had constructed the famous single-arch bridge at Pontypridd in 1756. The money was raised by shares of £100 each under the patriotic auspices of Sir Robert Salusbury and the public of Newport and county were congratulated at the time for an improvement which surpassed all that had been made for years on that (then) much frequented road. The bridge consisted of five arches, the span of the centre arch being 70’ (21m), the two adjoining 62’ (19m), and the remaining two 55’ (17m) each respectively.[1]
The first stone bridge in 1801 by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, illustrated for William Coxe’s An Historical Tour in Monmouthshire.
The arches are in place, but the piers are not up to their full height and the roadway consists of a supported boardwalk.
An account of the new bridge in 1801 by Thomas Martyn
On 30 Aug 1801, Thomas Martyn and his family were impressed when they “entered Newport over an elegant stone bridge of 5 arches that crosses the river Uske”, before staying in the town at the Westgate House. On the following morning they “Rose early and walked out before Breakfast to visit the bridge which we had passed over the night before. It is a neat and exquisite piece of workmanship, whether you view it from the top or descend to look at its sides. The Architect Mr David Edwards is the son of Wm. Edwards”.[2]
Bridge elevation drawn by David Edwards, Coxe’s An Historical Tour in Monmouthshire, 1801
The top of the bridge in 1805 by William Orme
Panels on the bridge[3]
The bridge bore two panels with the following inscriptions.
“This bridge was erected at the expense of the County by David Edwards and his two sons, AD 1800.”
“Widened and improved, AD 1866
T Dyne Steele, engineer; N Mackenzie, contractor.”
It was planned to preserve these panels in the Newport Museum, but the 1800 one was later inserted into the bridge at Caerleon also built by David Edwards.
Originally on Newport's first stone bridge, this panel is now on Caerleon Bridge which was also constructed by David Edwards.
Description of the old bridge prior to demolition in 1926
The bridge had a total length of 475’, measured from outside to outside of the ends of the wing walls of the abutments. Its maximum width from face to face of the two arches was 24’ 3”.
It had a carriageway 23’, giving a total width between parapets of 35’. The structure consisted of 5 arches and 4 river piers, constructed of 3 different classes of stone – Lliswerry limestone, old red sandstone, and a coarse grained yellow stone, supposed to have been quarried in Caen France.
The span of the arches varied from 55’ to 70’ and the thickness of the piers from 14’ to 16’. The surface of the carriageway was paved with stone setts and carried a double line of tramway, each set of rails being located close to the curb of the footpaths on either side.[4]
A painting of the bridge by James Flewitt Mullock c1860.
By permission of Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru - The National Library of Wales.
The wreck of the Severn screw-steamer in 1844. The new ship was attempting to leave her berth near the bridge when the screw failed and she was dashed against the bridge by the strong tide running upstream. The ship sank and was later recovered, with no loss of life.[5]
The bridge is almost destroyed by the Chartists in 1839[6]
The bridge narrowly escaped destruction when the Chartist marchers descended on Newport. At the treason trials held later at Monmouth (in January 1840), two witnesses, who had marched on the night 3-4th November 1839 from Blackwood with John Frost (the Chartist leader) attested that the plan was to ‘blow up’ the bridge on arrival at Newport. They claimed this action was intended to ‘stop the mail coach’ and act as a signal to the English Chartists that the Rising had begun. The destruction of the bridges on the lower Usk would also have delayed any troop reinforcements from reaching the town once it had been taken.
Although cogently debunked by Frost’s defence team, this ‘plot’ was a major plank in the Prosecution case and was undoubtedly believed by the Jury, who returned a guilty verdict. Other testimony that never surfaced in the Monmouth proceedings confirms that the authorities’ suspicions were not without foundation.
An informant related to the magistrates at Newport, how Jenkin Morgan, under orders to seize Aaron Crosfield’s gunpowder warehouse on the river bank, led an armed unit of men from Pillgwenlly, south of the town. They set off along the river bank to the Newport Bridge and crossed over to the east side of the Usk, where they waited for a rocket signal announcing the arrival of the men from the valleys. Heavy storms delayed the Chartist contingents and Morgan and his men sloped off at 3am. At 8am, Morgan received news at his home that Frost’s forces were entering the town along the Cardiff Road. He ran and joined them at the Courtybella machine near Bellevue Lane. Morgan pleaded guilty to High Treason at Monmouth (on January 15th), even though he had not actually fulfilled his task of overseeing the destruction of the bridge.
Widening the bridge in 1865-6
The following account of the bridge widening is taken from a document written at the time of the construction of the next stone bridge in 1927.[7]
Up to 1866 the bridge remained in the same condition as that in which it was originally constructed, which was totally inadequate to accommodate the large amount of traffic that passed over it. On account of the many complaints arising from the narrowness of the bridge, a committee of august persons was appointed at the Quarter Sessions to receive plans and estimates for widening the same, which met at the Newport Town Hall, on Thursday, January 19th, 1865. A number of plans and estimates were submitted and the successful engineer was Mr. T. Dyne Steel, C.E. The chosen designs consisted of a combination of lattice girders and cantilevers, by which new footways were to project from the masonry outwards, and the then footways were available for a new carriageway of 23’ from kerb to kerb. The lattice girders form a new parapet, and are supported on each projecting pier by cast-iron supports. The top of the girders, six inches wide, oval in form, were a smooth surface handrail. The footways are six feet wide, formed on buckled plates, and covered with asphalt three inches thick to form footpavements. The breaking strain of each girder between the supports was 100 tons. The greatest weight that could be placed on the footways would be only 26 tons, which left a margin of strength of 74 tons; the cost of widening the bridge was £1,575. The bridge design did not interfere with the masonry, and gave a width equal in proportion to the amount of traffic to that of any bridge in the country. The alterations began in February, 1865, and completed in 1866, without interfering with the traffic.[8]
Whilst the widening works were in progress, the pier foundations were examined, and aprons of rubble stone bedded in mortar were placed alongside and partly around the two easternmost piers in order to prevent erosion.
An early photograph of the bridge, clearly showing ‘the dip’, near to the castle.
The Dip
A distinctive feature of the old bridge was the ‘dip’ at the western end that shows conspicuously in old photographs. The bridge was arched – and so the surface did slope downwards as you travelled from the centre – but the dip was caused by the height of the ground on the western bank near the castle. This was apparently caused by the tipping of spoil that had been excavated when the canal had been constructed under Castle Green in the late 18th century. Rather than remove the soil from the centre of the built-up area, some was used to fill in what remained of the castle moat and more was used to raise the surrounding area generally, so that it stood 7’ above the roadway. The combination of these features created the dip, which impeded traffic and caused great difficulty for much of the lifetime of the bridge, as described by one writer. [9]
“All loaded carts or horse-drawn vehicles experienced some difficulty in leaving the bridge over the sudden, steep incline that confronted them at the end of an easy crossing. Market days must have been particularly irksome with traffic stretching back past Clarence Cottages almost to the bottom of Christchurch Hill – remember that the separate Caerleon and Chepstow Roads did not come into existence until 1812. There was only one way for vehicles to get across and that was to stop at the centre, whip the horses or give a great heave to raise the momentum, and then to make a swift run at the slope. Some times it worked and sometimes wagon or coach faltered. It was then that the local lads who often loitered nearby for just such an occasion, would rush forward, put their shoulders to the wheels and with wild cheers, lift the vehicle almost bodily over the hump!
When the first horse-drawn omnibuses came into service, it was a matter of great annoyance to the passengers that they had to alight and sometimes add their weight to the shove!”
Pre 1893 photo of the western end of the bridge showing the dip. [10]
After the dip had been levelled in 1893.[11]
Later history
The study for the second stone bridge (built 1927) also described the later history of the first stone bridge.[12]
In 1891, when Newport was constituted as a county Borough, the control of the bridge passed from the County Council of Monmouthshire to the Borough Council. In the following year, the Borough Council undertook further works consisting of the widening and raising of the western approach and the raising of the level of the roadway over the westernmost (levelling the dip). On removing the footways over the western arch and abutment, it was discovered that the ironwork in the footway decking and tie bolts were in such a condition as to require immediate replacement. The tie bolts and decking were accordingly renewed throughout and the parapet girders repaired from end to end. Concurrently with these operations the foundations of the piers were subjected to critical examination, when it was ascertained that large holes had been scoured by the current under and alongside the up river faces of the first and second piers from the western end of the bridge. These holes were successfully filled with cement concrete in bags to protect the concrete and prevent further scour. The remaining piers were also similarly protected by the deposit of stone on the up stream faces. The whole of the stonework was repaired where necessary and the bridge left in fair condition. The total expense in these works, including land purchases and compensation, was £19,706.
Further minor repairs have since been carried out and when the Temporary Bridge was erected, steel plate girders were placed on the top of the old piers to strengthen the footpaths at a cost of £4,885. Notwithstanding these additions the passage of years and the ever increasing traffic left their marks on the structure.
An interesting comparison showing the change in cross-river traffic is instanced by census figures taken on the following days, contrasting the use of the bridge when the population changed from 25,103 to 97,751.
23 December 1864 |
15 August 1925 |
||
7am – 7pm |
6am – 10pm |
||
Carriages and gigs |
109 |
Motor vehicles (all types) |
6131 |
Saddle horses |
98 |
Tram cars |
1447 |
Waggons and carts |
444 |
Ordinary cycles |
6951 |
Asses and carts |
20 |
Horsed vehicles |
1133 |
Handcarts |
74 |
Horses |
81 |
Cattle |
7 |
Handcarts |
241 |
TOTAL |
752 |
TOTAL |
15,984 |
Pedestrians |
3752 |
Pedestrians |
Too numerous to count |
References
1 Matthews, J. (1910) Historic Newport, 133.
2 ‘A Tour to South Wales, 1801’
[http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/large/item/GTJ27060//page/1/]
3 South Wales Argus, 22 June 1927, 5
4 Newport Bridge: Document detailing the early history of the bridge, together with a description of the old bridge, and details of materials used in construction (typescript), Newport Reference Library, N262445, M160 624 New.
5 http://www.newportpast.com/gallery/prints/wreck.htm
6 I am extremely grateful to Les James for supplying this information on the Chartists, drawn from his research into the trial records.
7 Newport Bridge: Document detailing the early history of the bridge, together with a description of the old bridge, and details of materials used in construction (typescript), Newport Reference Library, N262445, M160 624 New.
8 Matthews, J. (1910) Historic Newport 133-4.
9 Davis, The History of the Borough of Newport (c1995) 109.
10 Photo courtesy of Tom Dart.
11 Photo courtesy of Tom Dart.
12 Newport Bridge: Document detailing the early history of the bridge, together with a description of the old bridge, and details of materials used in construction (typescript), Newport Reference Library, N262445, M160 624 New.