Narrow Bridge, Bourton-on-the-Water

Narrow Bridge is one of the low stone footbridges that cross the River Windrush along the High Street in Bourton-on-the-Water, a few steps from the war memorial. Dated 1756, it is the oldest dated of the village's four listed bridges, with three rusticated arches and low parapets, and it is listed Grade II.

History

The Windrush runs down the middle of Bourton beside the High Street, and the village has crossed it on small stone bridges since at least the eighteenth century. Narrow Bridge, once listed as the footbridge by Victoria Hall, carries the date 1756, which makes it the oldest dated of the four listed bridges. The watercolourist T. C. Dibdin painted it in 1855.

Its neighbours

The other listed bridges follow the same pattern of three low arches. Downstream, Payne's Bridge, another small footbridge, carries the date 1776, the year it was rebuilt, and Victoria Street Bridge, a road bridge, is dated 1911 and was designed by G. F. Moore. Upstream, Big Bridge at the end of Sherborne Street, sometimes called Broad Bridge, is probably eighteenth century; Historic England calls it the original crossing for vehicles. All four are listed Grade II.

What to see

Stand on the bank to see the bridge in profile. Its three stone arches are rusticated, with the stones of the arch rings cut to stand out, and the deck rises slightly in a hump over the middle, between low parapets that leave the water in view.

Walk the length of the river along the High Street to compare the bridges: the hump of Narrow Bridge and Payne's Bridge, the broader Big Bridge, and Victoria Street Bridge of 1911, which keeps the same three-arch pattern.

Visiting

Narrow Bridge is a public footbridge, free and open at all times. The county council puts the village's visitors at about 10,000 a day at the busiest times, and much of that crowd is on this stretch of bank, so come early in the morning, in the evening or in winter to see the bridges without the crowds. The bridges have low parapets and the banks run straight down to the water, so keep a hand on small children. The village switches on its Christmas lights on Friday 27 November 2026, and in past years the parish council has put its Christmas tree up in the river. Bourton Rovers Football Club plays its football match in the river every August bank holiday Monday (30 August in 2027).

Getting there

Park at the council's Rissington Road car park, GL54 2BN, about 400m east, where the public toilets are too; it is free before 10am. The Pulhams 801 bus links Bourton with Cheltenham, Stow and Moreton-in-Marsh station, every day.

Our walks along the river pass the bridges. Bourton, Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter comes back along the Windrush past them, Bourton-on-the-Water and Wyck Rissington and the 10-mile Bourton-on-the-Water, the Slaughters and Naunton start at the war memorial beside it, and Bourton, Salmonsbury and the lakes sets off from the High Street by the river.

Nearby

The Croft, a riverside café on Victoria Street, is a short walk downstream, and the Willow and the Old New Inn, with the Model Village, are a few minutes away; Birdland is on Rissington Road. Cotswold Perfumery, founded in 1966, is on Victoria Street. St Lawrence's Church is up the High Street, and Greystones Farm is a short walk east. For another mill stream, the Old Mill at Lower Slaughter is about 2km north-west, on the River Eye.