Town Bridge (West Side)
Commemorative Plaque
Places > Bedford > Bridges
Commemorative metal plaque set on the inside wall on the northern side of the town bridge, read from the pavement, on the left as one walks from St Mary's Street
to the High Street.
The very long inscription states:
The original bridge over the River Ouse at this place was of remote antiquity. Its date
is not known but there was certainly a bridge of stone before the one built in the early part
of the thirteenth century. Of its existence and dimensions many indisputable traces have been
found. Upon the demolition of the castle of Bedford in the year 1224 a larger bridge
was formed of the materials, which having fallen into decay was, after the lapse of
nearly six hundred years, taken down and replaced by the present structure.
Designed and executed by John Wing of Bedford.
Under the direction of Commissioners authorized by two acts of Parliament of the 43rd and 50th of G III.
The first stone was laid by Francis, Marquis of Tavistock, on the solid rock below the piles
upon which the foundation of the ancient bridge were placed on the 26th day of April 1811.
Grant David Yeats, MD, Mayor of Bedford.
It was completed and opened for public use on the first day of November 1813 in the
Mayoralty of William Long, Esq., in the 54th year of the reign of King George the Third.
Additional plaque, below the above one, states:
On the 18th day of November 1839 the Commissioners for the Improvement of the town of Bedford, under and
by virtue of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 and 6 William IV. Cap.76), transferred their powers
with regard to Bedford Bridge to the Corporation of Bedford.
© Photo by Stuart Antrobus
Page last updated: 2nd August 2023