Halfpenny Bridge, Lechlade

Halfpenny Bridge, often written Ha'penny Bridge, carries Thames Street, the A361, over the river on the south side of Lechlade-on-Thames in one tall stone arch. It was built in the 1790s as a toll bridge, and its name comes from the halfpenny that people on foot paid to cross until 1839. Its tollhouse still stands on the corner. It is listed Grade II.

History

The bridge was part of a new road south from Lechlade. The Victoria County History says it was built under a turnpike Act of 1792, carrying a new road over the Thames into Inglesham parish; with it, Thames Street became the town's main road to Highworth and Swindon. Historic England's two listings date it to 1792, when Thames Street was laid out, and probably 1792 to 1794, and the Wiltshire entry suggests it was built by the local builders Ralph and Crowdy.

The halfpenny toll

People on foot paid a halfpenny to cross, which gave the bridge its name, and the Victoria County History records that the pedestrian toll was charged until 1839. The toll was taken at the little tollhouse on the north-east corner, whose door opens straight onto the bridge.

Two counties, two listings

The county boundary runs across the middle of the river here, so the bridge is listed twice: once in Gloucestershire, with the tollhouse, and once in Wiltshire for its southern half. A panel in the centre of each parapet has the line of the boundary on it.

What to see

Stand on the Thames Path by the river to see the arch: a single large semicircle, about 8m high at its peak, in dressed stone. The side piers are heavy, with small arches at their feet to let floodwater through and blind round openings above. On the south side, a dry arch was built for the towpath, and an old stile survives in it.

On the bridge, the coped parapets are about a metre high and the roadway about 6m wide. Look for the boundary panel at the crown. The tollhouse is a small square building of two storeys, with a basement below road level, a room at road level, square windows and a pyramid-shaped roof.

Visiting

The bridge is a public road bridge, free and open at all times. It rises steeply to the crown and carries main-road traffic, so take care with children and dogs. The Thames Path runs beneath it on the south bank; walkers on AllTrails reported the riverside path flooded in the winters of 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026, and cattle and geese on the meadows by the river in 2025 and 2026. The tollhouse is a private building and not open.

Getting there

The bridge is at the bottom of Thames Street, a few minutes' walk south of the Market Place. Stagecoach West's 77 stops on St John's Street four times a day each way, Monday to Saturday, on its way between Cirencester, Fairford and Highworth, with no Sunday service. There is no parking at the bridge, so park in the town and check the signs for any time limit or charge.

On foot, Lechlade and St John's Lock is a flat 3-mile loop that crosses the fields to the Round House and comes back along the Thames Path under the bridge. The Thames Path itself, the National Trail from the river's source near Kemble to Woolwich, passes beneath.

Nearby

The River Thames at Lechlade has its own guide. Downstream, the river reaches St John's Lock and Father Thames, beside The Trout Inn, and over the fields to the south-west is the little church of St John the Baptist, Inglesham. Back in the town, The New Inn on the Market Place is a coaching inn built shortly before 1754, and St Lawrence's Church stands beside it.