Scotswood Road Bridge (old)

The present Scotswood Road Bridge is a bowstring girder bridge built in 1967 to a design approved by the Royal Fine Art Commission. Its predecessor, however was a much more elegant affair; a chain suspension bridge. It was described in its early days as being "a situation more picturesque and striking than the one it occupies could scarcely have been selected". The bridge was built for the Scotswood Bridge Company, the architect being John Green. Its construction commenced on 21 July 1829 and was completed on 16 April 1831. It was 530 feet long and the road 20 feet wide. The piers were of Norman design and the headway under the bridge was a mere 18 feet above high water. It is marked as a Toll Bridge on the 2nd edition Ordnance Survey plan (c.1895), with the addition of a Toll House at the northern end. Unfortunately it proved unequal to the needs of modern traffic and was demolished. All that remains is the base of the north abutment alongside the new bridge.