Sandwich Toll Bridge
Sandwich Toll Bridge is a road bridge over the River Stour in Sandwich, Kent. It opened in 1755 on a site that had been a crossing for centuries, and has been part of the A256 road. Tolls were abolished in 1977.
History
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A plaque on the bridge indicates there has been a tolled crossing in this rough location since 1127.[1] The crossing forms part of a former turnpike road from Sandwich to the Isle of Thanet that has existed since the late 14th century.[2] A customs house was built at the southern edge of the crossing during Edward IV's reign.[3]
The original bridge was authorised by the Sandwich Bridge Act 1755 and opened that year.[3] It was rebuilt in 1773 from Portland Stone with a timber raised platform.[4][5] A table of tolls is displayed on the side of the adjacent Barbican Gate to the south.[2] The bridge was rebuilt again as an iron swing bridge in 1892, to allow river traffic to pass through.[6] The reconstruction supported stone arches at the north and south ends.[4]
The bridge originally formed part of the A256, a major road along the East Kent coast from Dover to Thanet. In 1962, the toll was 1 shilling (5p) for cars and 1/3 (6¼p) - 1/6 (7½p) for goods vehicles.[7] By 1965, it had become a significant bottleneck on the A256 as it could only carry a single lane of motor traffic and was the only crossing of the Stour in the local area.[8]
The bridge was Grade II listed in 1976.[4] Tolls were abolished the following year, with the final one being collected by the Mayor Councillor on 30 September.[2][1] A bypass of Sandwich opened in 1981, taking traffic away from the bridge, yet it continued to attract congestion as it was used as a rat run.[9]
In 2018, the bridge began to suffer reliability problems.[10] While Kent County Council were investigating repairs, on 9 June 2019, the bridge was stuck open after shipping vessel passed through. Following emergency work, it reopened on 24 June.[11] The bridge was expected to close again in February 2020 to all traffic, including pedestrians, but this was postponed.[12][13]
References
- ^ a b "Plaque on Sandwich Toll Bridge". Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ a b c Heritage Strategy Appendix 1 : Historic Roads, Routes and Lanes (PDF). Dover Borough Council (Report). p. 13. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ a b Hasted, Edward (1800). The town and port of Sandwich. Vol. 10 (Canterbury). pp. 152–216. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ a b c Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1343735)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "Tools". Hansard. 9 December 1968. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ Preston, James (2017). Kent's Transport Heritage. Amberley. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-445-66992-2.
- ^ "Toll Bridges and Roads". Hansard. 23 February 1962. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "Traffic Congestions (South East Kent)". Hansard. 3 December 1965. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ Sandwich Green Paper (PDF). Faversham Town Council (Report). June 2015. p. 4. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "Removal of Sandwich Tollbridge over River Stour could spell disaster over the summer". Kent Online. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "This is when Sandwich Tollbridge will reopen - but more work is still required". Kent News. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "Sandwich Toll Bridge (Prohibition of Driving) Temporary Order 2020". Kent County Council. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "Sandwich Toll Bridge works postponed due to A256 pipe issues". Kent Online. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.