The long story of Newtown's famous Long Bridge

A bridge is first recorded in the 15th century and described as a wooden structure of William of Worcester having been built to span the river Severn from Bridge Street to Penygloddfa and Llanllwchaiarn.

The bridge had been maintained thanks in part to the bequeathing of wills of Newtown’s better off inhabitants.

The bridge survived the great flood of 1795 which had swept away many other bridges in the area.

The bridge had caught the eye of travelling poet Richard Fenton in 1804 who wrote ‘although seemingly old and infirm, yet stood when many bridges were swept away by floods about nine years ago.’

Certainly the bridge had been beloved by the artist Samuel Ireland who toured the rivers of Powys from 1797 to 1799 with a coloured lithograph of the town’s wooden bridge included in his published collection.

Newtown's Long Bridge in 1826. Picture: Newtown Textile Museum.

The wooden bridge had crossed further downstream than its modern day replacement, spanning from Severn Terrace to the Syers’ Mill which had been one of the town’s largest employers.

The workers had been served by the local coaching inn, The Barley Mow, near the end of the bridge.

Until 1820 the maintenance of the bridge and all roads approaching Newtown had been funded and undertaken by the town’s rate payers but in that year the responsibility became that of the county magistrates who employed a surveyor to oversee a Montgomeryshire-wide road and bridge improvement programme.

The wooden bridge was among those to be replaced.

On February 14, 1825 a General Quarters Session meeting at the Bear’s Head Hotel was held and it was agreed surveyor Thomas Penson undertake the construction of a new bridge over the Severn.

Newtown's Long Bridge in 1846. Picture Powys Digital History.

Estimates for iron, stone and wood, although wooden bridges had been banned five years earlier, were considered before it was agreed to build a stone bridge in place of the wooden structure.

Thomas Penson had used local builders and material wherever possible and at the same time as the construction of Newtown’s new stone bridge similar schemes had been ongoing in Caersws and Llanymynech.

Stone was quarried from the Stondart Quarry in Raven Square in Welshpool and the bridge was completed in 1826 and named Long Bridge and connected Broad Street with Penygloddfa.

Newtown's Long Bridge in 1880. Picture Powys Digital History.

Penson had still been in post in 1857 when the death of a lady pedestrian on the bridge had led to the addition of footpaths on both sides when it was claimed the ‘bridge too dangerous for foot passengers in consequence of being so very narrow.’

While work was completed within the year the bridge was not known for its safety and improvements were undertaken in 1906 and finally paving slabs were added on each side in 1924.

Newtown's Long Bridge in 1902. Picture by Powys Digital History.

By 1996 the responsibility of Long Bridge was Powys County Council’s with the authority investing more than 200,000 pounds in much needed maintenance and concrete foundation support.

At the same time several interesting discoveries were found at the site.

Wood, dated to the mediaeval era and part of the original wooden structure, had been used as buttresses for the Long Bridge upon its construction and had played their part in keeping its replacement standing for 200 years.

With thanks to Newtown Local History Group, Newtown Library, Newtown Textile Museum and Powys Digital History.