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Piercebridge Roman Bridge
The Roman bridge at Piercebridge crossed the River Tees, carrying Dere Street, the Roman road that linked York with Corbridge, near Hadrian’s Wall. The remains of the bridge now lie on the south bank, as the river has migrated northwards since the bridge was built.[1] Morbium, the Roman Fort at Piercebridge, guarded the bridge.
Piercebridge Roman Bridge is the ruin of a Roman bridge over the River Tees near the village of Piercebridge, County Durham, England.
The bridge carried Dere Street Roman road across the river. Piercebridge Roman Fort guarded the bridge.
The Tees has narrowed and changed its course over the centuries so the remains lie in a field around south of the current course of the river, and about east of Piercebridge.
What remains of the bridge are massive masonry blocks that formed its piers. The lower courses of one of the abutments still stand, partially complete, and it is possible to see the holes into which the wooden structure of the bridge would have fitted. All of the timber has disappeared in the nearly 16 centuries since the end of the Roman occupation.
Alternative interpretation
Whilst the majority opinion among archaeologists is that the structure is a bridge, an alternative interpretation has been proposed by amateur archaeologist Raymond Selkirk, who contends that the structure is a navigation dam with an overspill channel. From this, and other evidence he argues that the Romans made far greater use of river transport than is generally recognised. His views are set out in his books The Piercebridge Formula (1983), On the Trail of the Legions (1995) and Chester-le-Street & Its Place in History (2000).
Visit the page: Piercebridge Roman Bridge for references and further details. You can contribute to this article on Wikipedia.
from http://www.english-heritage.o…
Piercebridge Roman Bridge - English Heritage
- "The remains at Piercebridge are part of a large bridge which carried Dere Street, the Roman road that linked York with Corbridge, near Hadrian’s Wall, across the river Tees. They …
Added by
Simon Cotterill
from Flickr (flickr)
Welcome to Roman Piercebridge, site of the bridge crossing the Tees along the line of Deere Street
Pinned by Simon Cotterill
from http://www.english-heritage.o…
Piercebridge Roman Bridge - English Heritage
- "The remains at Piercebridge are part of a large bridge which carried Dere Street, the Roman road that linked York with Corbridge, near Hadrian’s Wall, across the river Tees. They …
Added by
Simon Cotterill
from Flickr (flickr)
Welcome to Roman Piercebridge, site of the bridge crossing the Tees along the line of Deere Street
Pinned by Simon Cotterill
