Wansford Bridge

The C340 (formerly A6118) crosses the River Nene on Wansford Bridge in the centre of Wansford. This is the line of the original Great North Road before the bypass was built to take the A1 away from the town.

The bridge itself consists of 12 arches, the southern two being the newest and dating from 1795. They are the only two to actually cross the river channel now, and were rebuilt following damage from ice. The northern of the two has a wide eliptical span, and so is very different from the other narrower arches. Working northwards, there are three arches dating from 1672 and the remainder are from the original 1577 rebuilding after storm damage 6 years earlier.

The 10 northern arches all act as flood water arches, normally crossing a meadow. They vary in size somewhat, starting quite small at the north end, and all have refuges on the western side, with the three arches from 1672 also having refuges to the east. The different sizes of the arches suggest that there may have been more arches when the bridge was first built. The origins of the bridge are believed to be in the 13th Century, but how much of the structure we see today is that old is uncertain.