Part 1: Fording the river

This part of Nantwich has been strategically important for millenia both for the nearby salt bearing brine springs and as a crossroads on the wider transport networks, both regional and national.

There has been a river crossing in this area of Nantwich since at least the time of the Romans when the roman road forded the Weaver to the South of the modern day bridge and North of where Mill Island lies today. At that time the river would have meandered through Nantwich without the man-made diversion known as a ‘mill race’ which was built for Nantwich Mill many years later.

You can read more about the Roman Road here.

Following the Norman invasion of 1066, a motte and bailey castle was built on the East bank of the river, close to the ford crossing in the area which is now a car park called Bower’s Row. A fortified position here would have been perfect for controlling the traffic which flowed along the route of the old Roman road.

Part 2: Say your prayers

Some time over the next few centuries the ford crossing was eventually replaced with a wooden bridge a little further to the North where the modern day stone bridge is located. Early records present a surprising description. James Hall, a local historian wrote about the bridge in his 1883 book ‘A history of the town and parish of Nantwich’:

Under  date  5th  Jan.  1398  [-9]  occurs  the  first  mention  of  the  Town  Bridge,  when 

licence  was  granted  by  the  Bishop  of  Lichfield  and  Coventry,  for  the  benefit  of  the  inhabitants of  the  town  of  Nantwich,  to  have  divine  service  celebrated  in  “St.  Ann’s  Chapel  upon the  Bridge  in  the  said  town”

‘A history of the town and parish of Nantwich‘ by James Hall 1883 (Page 86)

And also,

It  occurs  again  in  John  de  Kyngeslegh’s  Rental  dated  17 Hen.  VI.  [1438-9],  as  follows: –

”  Four  shops  which  he  formerly  had  upon  the  Bridge  with  the  Chapel etc. value  40  sh.”

‘A history of the town and parish of Nantwich‘ by James Hall 1883 (Page 86)

So we have records from the late medieval period describing a bridge at Nantwich which had a chapel and four shops on it.

Bridges with chapels and other buildings on them were relatively common at the time although few survive today. A famous example is the old London Bridge which at its peak in the late fourteenth century had 140 houses on it with shops on the bottom floor creating one of the busiest shopping streets in the city. There was a chapel at the centre which was dedicated to the martyr Thomas Beckett.

Our bridge in Nantwich was obviously on a much smaller scale than London Bridge but other similar examples existed nearby in both Congleton and Stockport. It is not known whether the chapel and shops were in the centre of the bridge or if they were at either end but it was not uncommon for the buildings to be integral to the structure itself. 

The chapel would have been a place where a priest would say masses and prayers for those using the bridge in return for an offering or toll which would have been an important source of income in addition to rent from the shops to pay for the upkeep of the bridge. 

In the 1540s, the reformation brought an end to these practices and the chapel was probably removed around this time.

Nantwich was on the main road from London to Chester and so the bridge was well used for both trade and the military on their way to Wales and later Ireland. A toll was payable for using the bridge which was put towards the cost of maintaining it although the military were exempt. 

So far, the maintenance of the bridge was the responsibility of the townsfolk of Nantwich.

“A  strong  timber  bridge  over  the  stream  of  the  Weever  is  maintained  by  the  town,  which  requires  no little  care  and  cost,  by  reason  of  the  monstrous  carriages  of  the  wood  in  carts  which  is  brought  thither for  the  boiling  of  their  salt.”

Mr Webb’s description of the town in 1622 (taken from Hall 1883).

In 1635, Nantwich was ordered to improve and repair its bridge to enable easier passage for horse and carts and presumably for the increased traffic which was now using it; however the work was not immediately carried out and nature stepped in. Thomas Wilbraham, a prominent resident of Nantwich, recorded in his diary a year later:

5  Nov.  1636.  The  River  Weever  was  so  high  yt  the  water  touched  the  planks  of  the  Wych  bridge, &  broke  down  the  Jarrels,  &  did  run  with  a  swift  current  through  my  cos.  Hassalls  gates.

Thomas Wilbrahams Diary 1635 (taken from Hall 1883).

The next summer, the bridge was rebuilt in timber.

Hall tells us that in 1652 the bridge was reclassified as a ‘County Bridge’ owing to its importance beyond the town and relieving Nantwich residents of most of the maintenance costs and instead contributing to the upkeep of all county bridges. And so in 1663 the wooden bridge was replaced in stone for the first time. 

Roger Wilbraham, the son of Thomas Wilbraham recorded in his diary:

 Our  Town  Bridge  which  was  of  timber,  being  in  decay,  I  obtained  of  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  at the  Quarter  Sessions  held  here  in  July  1663,  that  we  might  have  a  substantial  Stone  Bridge.  It  being referred  to  me  by  the  Bench  to  contract  with  some  sufficient  workman,  I  agreed  with  Tim  Adams, Mason,  to  build  the  bridge,  as  it  now  is,  for  which  he  had  £90  of  the  County,  &  the  Materials  of  the Old  Bridge. 

My  little  boy,  a  Twin  of  2  years  old,  was  the  first  corpse  that  was  carried  over  the  new  Bridge the beginning  of  July  1664.”

Thomas Wilbrahams Diary 1663 (taken from Hall 1883)

This version of the bridge served Nantwich for well over a century but even the new sturdy stone construction would eventually need to be replaced. 

Part 3: Built to last?

On 23rd March 1792 this notice was placed in The Chester Chronicle:

There appears to have been some delay to the building of the replacement bridge but by 1801, the plans were available to be viewed. The contractor would also need to construct a temporary wooden bridge which would be used whilst the stone bridge was replaced:

The current version of the bridge across the River Weaver was completed in 1803. The cost of upkeep has been a common theme throughout the history of the bridge no doubt exacerbated by the weight and volume of traffic using it on a daily basis and the newest incarnation was no exception. 

From the 1820s the town was by-passed by Thomas Telford’s new road connecting London and Holyhead directly resulting in a drop in traffic coming through Nantwich.

By 1849 contractors were sought to carry out repairs on the bridge:

Part 4: Alternative routes

Nantwich bridge was still the only crossing of the Weaver at Nantwich. Another ancient crossing was at Beam Bridge on the road to Worleston and Reaseheath. 

At the start of the 21st century, a new crossing of the Weaver was constructed called ‘Sir Thomas Fairfax Bridge’ (named after the leader of the parliamentary troops at the battle of Nantwich in 1644) for the Waterlode bypass which provided access to new housing developments and an alternative route avoiding Welsh Row.

Today the original Nantwich Bridge is still going strong with well over 200 years of service under its belt. As a Grade II listed structure it is likely to still be in use for many years to come.