MEM23706 - 19th Century bridge east of Simonsbath Bridge (Building)

The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map shows several paths and tracks that cross Ashcombe Water and its tributaries. At the confluence of Ashcombe Water with the River Barle a bridge took the old road from Simonsbath Bridge, running along the north bank of the river for some 100 metres before turning north to the village centre. The extreme weather conditions which caused the Lynmouth Flood Disaster in August 1952 also affected the Barle and its tributaries; however, while many of the floodwaters damaged or destroyed all of the 19th Century bridges in Ashcombe, part of this bridge survived. The feature now includes abutments, an arch and the roadway over the bridge, although the arch has been damaged by an ash sapling. The bridge was originally constructed of several courses of flat slabs of local shillet with upright shillet slabs and some quartz blocks forming a decorative parapet. It was situated in open meadow or pasture, possibly part of an area of parkland in front of Simonsbath House (MSO7076) and the bridge was probably built to replace a muddy track over a ford that would spread across the fields in muddy conditions. The bridge is similar to other structures in the settlement and echoes the style of the structures built a few decades earlier as part of John Knight’s designed landscape at Simonsbath. [1]