Chiselhampton Bridge (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Stadhampton.
In the historic county of Oxfordshire.
Modern Authority of Oxfordshire.
1974 county of Oxfordshire.
Medieval County of Oxfordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SU59399875
Latitude 51.68445° Longitude -1.14230°

Chiselhampton Bridge has been described as a Fortified Bridge but is rejected as such.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Chislehampton Bridge is now 178 feet long and has eight arches and five stone pillars. About 40 feet to the south there is a subsidiary bridge of one arch, which spans a small tributary of the Thame. The main bridge over the Thame has been of importance from an early date. In 1444 the 'good men' of Chislehampton were granted pontage for five years to be applied by the survey and control of Drew Barentine and Richard Quatremain. In 1500 the bridge was described by John Leland. He wrote that he rode over three little bridges of wood and then over a 'great bridge' over the Thame. There were 'five great pillars of stone, upon the which was laid a timber bridge'. As the masonry in the north-east side of the existing bridge seems to date from the late 16th century the timber structure was probably replaced by a stone bridge at that date. (VCH)

Chiselhampton Bridge. Over the river Thame, 178 feet long, has 8 arches and five stone cutwaters. First mentioned in 1444 when pontage rights were granted. In 1500 Leland rode over a great bridge "with five great pillers of stone apon the which was layid a timbre bridge". This took an important part in the civil wars, being fortified by gates. Rupert crossed it with 1,700 men and returned the same way after his victory at Chalgrove in 1643. Shortly afterwards it was broken down. It was repaired with Headington stone in 1690 and widened by 8 feet in 1899. (John Steane 1997)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1006362, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number ox9
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1048022
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 237915.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 3212.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- John Steane, 1997, Medieval Bridges in Oxfordshire (Oxfordshire County Council and Vale and Downland Museum)
Books
- Lobel, Mary D. (ed), 1962, VCH Oxfordshire Vol. 7 p. 5- online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Stearne, J., 1981, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter p. 93-5 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1907, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 1 p. 116 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Bruce Watson, 2013 Sept, Gazetteer of fortified bridges (reject defences C17 only) (working list kindly shared with Gatehouse)

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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