Packhorse Bridge - Definition

Definition

In the British Isles at least, the definition of a packhorse bridge is somewhat nebulous. Ernest Hinchliffe discusses the difficulty of defining a true packhorse bridge in A Guide to the Packhorse Bridges of England. He claims that "before the eighteenth century bridges were described as 'horse bridges' or 'cart bridges'" and his strict definition excludes the latter. He suggests that a classic packhorse bridge should generally be:

• less than 6 feet (1.8 m) in width;
• built before 1800;
• on a recognised packhorse route.

He categorises the 190 English bridges listed in his book into three groups:

• Group 1: 6ft wide or less, built before 1800 and with known packhorse associations;
• Group 2: bridges that fail one or other of the above criteria, but which are generally referred to as packhorse bridges;
• Group 3: bridges sometimes claimed as packhorse bridges but dismissed as such by the author.

The difficulty of classification is illustrated by Moulton Bridge in Suffolk, which Hinchliffe places in Group 1 but which English Heritage describe as "perhaps not strictly a packhorse bridge since it was wide enough to take carts".