Spa Bridge, Scarborough
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Cliff Bridge Terrace, Scarborough Y011 2
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Visit websiteIn 1826 The Cliff Bridge Company leased the Spa from the corporation and in order to maximise its commercial potential proceeded to erect an elegant iron footbridge to span the chasm of the valley from St Nicholas Cliff to the Spa. Towering some 70 ft.(21 m) above the valley below and some 414 ft.(126 m) long, the bridge provided an excellent promenade and wonderful views whilst also providing an excellent link to the town's more southerly attractions.
The bridge was formally opened on the 19th July 1827. The opening was a major occasion as the crowds flocked to see it. Amid much pomp and ceremony a mail coach and horses with a sailor balancing precariously on top galloped at full speed across the bridge.
The bridge proved so popular that a toll- booth was erected at the St. Nicholas Cliff end.
Technically it is of interest as it is a rare example of a multiple-span cast iron bridge. It has four spans with four ribs and radial spandrel members and is said to resemble a toll bridge at Dunham.
By Road: In the centre of Scarbrough off Cliff Bridge Terrace.
Binns, Jack, History of Scarborough: From Earliest Times to the Year 2000, Blackthorn, ISBN-10: 0954630009 (2003)
Humber, William, A Practical Treatise of Cast and Wrought Iron Bridges, Alburgh ASIN: B001IYZ0D4 (1987)
Ionides, Julia, Thomas Farnolls Pritchard of Shrewsbury: Architect and 'Inventor of Cast Iron Bridges, dog Rose Press, ISBN-10: 0952836718 (1998)
Pearson, Trevor, Scarborough, A History, Phillimore, ISBN-10: 1860775683 (2009)
Pevsner, Nicholas, Yorkshire: The North Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England, Yale, ISBN-10: 0300096658 (1996)
Forgotten Relics - Listed Bridges and Viaducts