Slater's Bridge
Slater's Bridge is a traditional packhorse bridge in Little Langdale in the English Lake District, standing at National Grid Reference NY3120502996.[1]
Slater's Bridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 54.41783°N 3.06165°W |
| Crosses | River Brathay |
| Locale | Little Langdale, Cumbria |
| Statistics | |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Slater's Bridge |
| Designated | 12 January 1967 |
| Reference no. | 1245295[1] |
| Location | |
History and construction
The bridge dates back to the 17th century, and became a listed building in 1967.[1] Built of slate, it consists of a 15-foot (4.6 m) segmental arch and a flatter span built of slabs, and incorporates a natural boulder in midstream. The bridge is thought to have been created by miners working in the nearby Tilberthwaite Fells.[2]
Already in the 19th century, Alexander Craig Gibson called it "an exquisite and unique specimen of a style of bridge all but extinct";[3] a century later, Alfred Wainwright called it "the most picturesque footbridge in Lakeland, a slender arch constructed of slate from the quarries and built to give the quarrymen a shorter access from their homes".[4]
Literary associations
The bridge was acclaimed in a 20th-century poem as "...this/exercise in hanging circularity, toppling stress./The rough slate wedges carry their own likeness/on the belly of each, with the grass springing sidewise/at the joins. The bare arch links two valley sides/as though by a handclasp across the sky's reflection".[5]
References
- Historic England. "Slaters Bridge (Grade II*) (1245295)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- Conduit, Brian (1991). Lake District Walks. Jarrold/OS. p. 62. ISBN 0711704635.
- Gibson, Alexander Craig (1849). The Old Man; Or Ravings and Ramblings Round Conistone. London: Whittaker & Co. p. 30. Retrieved 5 September 2020 – via Project Gutenberg.
- Wainwright, Alfred (1992). Wainwright in the Valleys of Lakeland. London: Michael Joseph. p. 185. ISBN 0718134818.
- Quoted in N Nichlson, The Lake District (Penguin 978) p. 58-9
