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Summary

The original bridge at Looe was commenced in 1411 and completed in 1436.

Protected Status

• Conservation Area: LOOE

Other References/Statuses

• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SX25SE 7
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 6540
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SX25SE 8

Monument Type(s):

• BRIDGE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• CHAPEL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Full description

The original bridge at Looe was commenced in 1411 and completed in 1436. The bridge was built to link the boroughs of East and West Looe and to help travellers along the coast route from Plymouth to Fowey (b1). St Anne's chapel was situated in the middle of the bridge. The first reference to the chapel is when Sir John Gynys, chaplain, obtained a license from the bishop to celebrate mass in the chapel. The license dates from the 18th Novenber 1436. It has been suggested that the chapel was demolished at the time of the Reformation. There are no later references to it and in 1853 when the bridge was pulled down, the only trace of it was said to be a well in one of the recesses (b1). Dr Borlase drew a sketch of the bridge in about 1750, in which 15 arches are shown, with two square openings at either end for rafts. Borlase states that the bridge's width was 6 feet 2 inches. Leland gives the number of arches as 12 or 16. J Fossington RA in 1810 reproduced the upper side of the bridge in an engraving, showing 12 arches and 2 openings. Bond, in his sketches of Looe of 1883, says it was 384 feet long and varied in breadth from 10 feet 3 inches to 6 feet 8 inches. He notes 18 arches and 2 raft openings, and he also mentions tablets at each end, recording the repairs by the county in 1689. The bridge was demolished during the construction of the canal and railway in the C19, and was one of the oldest of the four great estuary bridges of Devon and Cornwall. Leland says "it is a thousand pities that the builders of Looe bridge did not make it 9 feet wide as Wadebridge. If they had done this it would have been spared".

The curved wall with a stone set into it between the Harbour Moon pub and Bridge End Guest House marks the western end of the old bridge.

<1> Henderson, C & Coates, H, 1928, Old Cornish Bridges and Streams, 67-70 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3515.

<2> Borlase, W, 1758, The Natural History of Cornwall, 40 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2885.

<3> Henderson, C, 1925, The Cornish Church Guide, 125 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3512.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1970s, 1:10,000 OS Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4045.

<5> Bond, T, 1823, Topographical and Historical Sketches of East and West Looe (Bibliographic reference). SCO2874.

<6> Leland, J, 1535, The Itinerary of John Leland, VOL 2, 78-85; VOL 3, 1-29 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3862.

<7> Ordnance Survey, 1810-13, 1st Edition OS 1 Inch:1 Mile Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4046.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

Related records: none recorded

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