Newton Cap Bridge (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Newtonbridge; Bishop Skirlaw's Bridge

In the civil parish of Bishop Auckland.
In the historic county of Durham.
Modern Authority of Durham.
1974 county of County Durham.
Medieval County of County Palatinate of Durham.

OS Map Grid Reference: NZ20503026
Latitude 54.66672° Longitude -1.68325°

Newton Cap Bridge has been described as a certain Fortified Bridge.

There are major building remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Road bridge. Reputedly built for Bishop Skirlawe late C14, but probably much rebuilt. c1900 widening of road and footpaths on cantilevered girders. Original parapets remain between road and paths. Stone with ashlar dressings; iron handrails to cantileverd paths. 2 arches, the north segmental with span approx 30m, the south pointed with span approx 28m, both with 3 rings of voussoirs, the inner ones stepped back. No ribs. Pedestrian refuges above massive pointed cutwater between arches. Stone road drains at road bed level. South end probably had bridge gate, on projecting foundations which were removed from bridge abutment in alterations c1900 (Thompson 1901). Stile in east parapet south end leading to L-plan steps, flanked by stone-coped rubble walls and partly renewed, down to river bank. Restored inscription on west parapet coping near north end 'Edw. Palfrey's Leap, 1744'. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1005581, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number du24
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1292118
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 24242.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) D37438; D1414.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Bridges on the Tyne
Books
- Tilly, G., 2002, Conservation of Bridges (London: Spon Press) p. 115-16
  Jervoise, E., 1931, The Ancient Bridges of the North of England (London; The Architectural Press for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) p. 35-6
  Surtees, H.C., 1922, History of The Township of Newton Cap p. 10
  Raine, J. 1852, Brief Historical Account of the Episcopal Castle of Auckland (Durham) p. 45
Periodical Articles
- Thompson, J., 1901, 'Newton Cap Bridge, near Bishop Auckland' Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Upon Tyne (ser2) Vol. 10 p. 20-23 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Bruce Watson, 2013 Sept, Gazetteer of fortified bridges (working list kindly shared with Gatehouse)

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*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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