Piercebridge Roman Bridge is the ruin of a Roman bridge over the River Tees, northern England. It is near the villages of Cliffe (North Yorkshire) and Piercebridge, County Durham.
The most recent excavations were by Channel 4's Time Team in 2009.
The bridge carried the Roman road Dere Street across the river.
The first bridge was built around 90 AD, but this may have been replaced by a second bridge after it was washed away. The Tees has narrowed and changed its course over the centuries and as a result the remains lie in a field around 90 metres (300 ft) south of the current course of the river, and about 450 metres (1,480 ft) east of Piercebridge.
What remains of the bridge are massive masonry blocks that formed at least five piers. The lower courses of one of the abutments still stand, partially complete, and it is possible to see the holes into which the wooden structure of the bridge would have fitted. All of the timber has disappeared in the nearly 16 centuries since the end of the Roman occupation. The remains were discovered in 1972 during gravel quarrying. The stone blocks are up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) long and the total bridge structure was 123 metres (404 ft) long. Artefacts from the excavation of the bridge and fort can be seen in the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle.
Whilst the majority opinion among archaeologists is that the structure is a bridge, an alternative interpretation has been proposed by archaeologist Raymond Selkirk, who contends that the structure is a navigation dam with an overspill channel. From this, and other evidence he argues that the Romans made far greater use of river transport than is generally recognised. His views are set out in his books The Piercebridge Formula (1983), On the Trail of the Legions (1995) and Chester-le-Street & Its Place in History (2000).
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Piercebridge Roman Bridge is the ruin of a Roman bridge over the River Tees, northern England. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a bridge site from the Roman period in Britain.
Piercebridge Roman Bridge is classified as a Roman bridge — a infrastructure site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Piercebridge (0.4 km), Holme House (6 km), Roman fort and prehistoric enclosed settlement 400m west of Carkin Moor Farm (9 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
This page covers the Roman site at Piercebridge Roman Bridge. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain, drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Piercebridge Roman Bridge