thumb|right|380px|The old bridge over the [[River Great Ouse|Great Ouse. Both the modern steel footbridge to Godmanchester and the A14 flyover are invisible from the River Park and this angle.]]

The Old Bridge between Huntingdon and Godmanchester (now part of Cambridgeshire, England) is a well-preserved medieval stone bridge over the River Great Ouse.

History

The town has long been an important bridgehead, with Ermine Street (connecting London to Lincoln and York), as well as various east–west trade routes, crossing the Great Ouse here. Ermine Street would have first crossed the river here via a ford, believed to be some way to the west of the present bridge. Edward the Elder built a wooden bridge in the early 10th century a few yards to the west of the current bridge, and also ordered the nearby Huntingdon Castle to be rebuilt. Until the 1107 construction of the first bridge in St Ives, it is believed that there was no bridge further downstream, and foreign trade would navigate the river as far upstream as Huntingdon. Consisting of six arches and faced with ashlar, the parapets which form recesses for pedestrians, are triangular on the north side, and semi-hexagonal on the south.

The bridge was Grade I listed as Huntingdon Bridge by Historic England Ref 1128636 in 1950 and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument

The Nuns Bridge is a different Grade II Listed, originally a late medieval bridge 1.3km West.

References

  • Town conservation, including a brief history