Cutwell Bridge, Tetbury

Cutwell Bridge is a small stone packhorse and foot bridge on the south-west edge of Tetbury, on the old road into the town over a tributary of the Avon. Its listing dates it to about 1622, and it is listed Grade II.

History

Cutwell Bridge was built in about 1622 for people on foot and packhorses, on the old road into Tetbury from the south-west. Tetbury stands on a hill with the River Avon on its east side and a tributary brook to the south, and this road crossed a tributary of the Avon here. The bridge no longer carries a road; in the 1770s the Bath road was given its own bridge over the valley, Bath Bridge.

What to look for

The bridge is small enough to miss. The listing describes:

• A single triangular arch about a metre high and two metres wide at its base, built of big wedge-shaped stones
• A second, small square tunnel beside it with a single stone lintel, for floodwater
• A bridge deck about three metres wide that runs into a long ramp, about 25m in all
• Some original stone slabs still under the tarmac, between twentieth-century iron railings

Visiting

The bridge is on a public footpath, open at all times and free. The arch is only about a metre high, so look for it below the deck.

Getting there

Cutwell Bridge is at the north end of Cutwell, on the south-west side of the town, about five minutes' walk from the Market Place. Buses link Tetbury with Cirencester, Kemble station, Stroud and Bath, Monday to Saturday, with no Sunday buses. Tetbury's car parks include the free Old Railyard car park by the Goods Shed, where the Tetbury town walk starts, and the Chipping car park (charged Monday to Saturday, free on Sundays). The Tetbury town walk crosses it, and a few minutes later passes over Bath Bridge.

Nearby

St Saviour's Church and the old police station and court are a few minutes north, and St Mary's is up the hill to the east. The Close Hotel and the Gilbertine Kitchen are on the way back to the centre.