Long Bridge
The River Torridge is spanned at Bideford by the Long Bridge, said to have been first built in the 14th century by Sir Theobald Grenville The present structure is supposed to be of 15th century construction, but includes much later repairs, for example in 1638, and was widened in 1865. It has 24 arches all of different sizes. The traditional explanation is that each arch was funded by a different local guild, although there are no records to confirm this. Another theory is that the piers of the arches of the bridge were built on naturally existing and therefore randomly situated large stones in the river. A former New Year's Eve tradition was to try to run across the Long Bridge during the time taken for the bells of St. Mary's parish church to chime midnight.
Read more about this topic: Bideford
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