Monument record 1893 - The 'Packhorse' or 'Roman' bridges

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 55728 & 55736 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Three 'Packhorse Bridges'. Humpback bridges built of dressed tooled red sandstone blocks with a recessed segmental arches which carry a plain parapets with chamfered coping joined by iron ties. On the northern side of the western bridge the abutments step forward, the southern side is flush. Parapets follow the line of the bridge down and end at square blocks. The parapet of the central bridge turns and drops to form revetment walls to approaches on either side. The easternmost bridge lies over a clogged side channel and has two triangular buttresses on its northern side. Small stone sets and cobbles form the carriageway. Probably dates from the later eighteenth century.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ46NE14 1986 (Index). SCH2487.

A group of three medieval narrow bridges built of red sandstone with a span of around 12ft (each). The eastern bridge is connected to the central bridge by a raised, stone revetted causeway surfaced with cobblestones. The bridges have been strengthened by the addition of a further arch of stone and, with the causeways, been restored. The bridges are approached from the east by a narrow hollow way. The three bridges are connected by a curbed path, overgrown in places, c.2.3m wide; this may be an early feature. The bridges appear to be contemporary and, although of differing size, are of similar form. Also known as 'The Roman Bridges’.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ4765, 1874-1875 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

This map depicts the western bridge over the main channel of the River Gowy and the eastern bridge over a drain. This map also suggests the presence of a causeway between the western and central bridges.

<4> GeoInformation Group, 1940, Luftwaffe Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SCH5167.

The central channel, the canalised Gowy, was constructed between 1940 and 1947 (see 5).

<5a> Royal Air Force, 1944-1947, 1940s RAF Aerial Photographs from Operation Review, CPE\UK\1935 no.4034, 17/01/1947 (Aerial Photograph). SCH8041.

<5b> The GeoInformation Group, 2005, 1940s RAF Aerial Photographs from Operation Review (Aerial Photograph). SCH4608.

<6> Cheshire Historic Environment Record, Various, Historic Environment Record Site Visit Record, 07/06/2010 Edwards R (Unpublished Document). SCH5294.

The causeway between the eastern and central bridges is clearly visible, standing c.0.5m above ground level. A sandstone kerb is clearly visible between the central and western bridges. This is associated with a slight earthwork 0.2-0.3m high and some traces of cobbles. This suggests that there is also a causeway here. Intermittent traces of cobbling and kerbstones extend for up to 30m west of the western bridge.

<7> Dodgson J McN, 1970-2, 1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire, Vol.III, p.274-5 (Book). SCH3228.

Earliest references to 'le Plat' date from the thirteenth century (1288). The Black Prince's Register refers in 1353 to the 'pont de Hockenhull'.

<8> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, vol.II, p.8 (Book). SCH1389.

'At the one side of which demesne lies Hockenhall plot, a place well known, being the passage over our said water, in our great London road-way to Chester, wanting nothing but a bridge for carts to pass that way when the river riseth, which were a very necessary and charitable work to be done' from Itinery of Eddisbury Hundred by William Webb c.1621, reprinted in Ormerod.

<9> Chester Courant, 1878-1990, The Cheshire Sheaf, Series 3, v.28, no.6165, April 1933 (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH3105.

‘…three pack-horse bridges, in a lane leading over the River Gowy and its marshes. They have stone parapets and high arches, and are very narrow, with cobbled footway. Often called 'the Roman bridges'. Ten shillings was left in 1539 by Ralph Rogers, of Chester, for ‘the mending of the bridge of Hockenhull Platt’…’

<10> Ogilby J, 1675, Britannia Atlas, Plate 23 (Maps and Plans). SCH2109.

This map depicts three bridges which are labelled '3 Stone Bridges'.

<11> Various, Written Communication to the HER, Keogh, D. 8/11/2018 (Written Communication). SCH3756.

Summary of research on the bridges submitted to the HER.

There was a plea to the Justices of the Peace in 1614, on behalf of the parishioners of Hockenhull for securing funds from the County to repair the BRIDGE …'theire ys a place and Bryde called HockenhullPlatt ys soare decayed and so farre out of order.' [I suggest this was an earlier bridge of the fourteenth century. A reference to a mill there in the fifteenth if not before.] In 1621, William Webb observed no bridge. In 1675, John Ogilby's Britannia Road Book, showed 'three stone bridges' (see 10). It appears the bridges were built between 1621 and 1675. There is a mason's mark on the causeway dating from seventeenth century as confirmed by Warwick Univesity. [Mason's mark on the causeway, matching one in Tarvin church, supposedly of sixteenth or seventeenth century date.]

<12> Cheshire Archaeology Planning Advisory Service, 2010, Site visit/watching brief observation form, Leah M, 10/12/2020 (Unpublished Report). SCH5277.

Stonework adjacent to the Packhorse Bridges at Hockenhull Platts exposed by trees blown down by storm Arwen. The tree throws associated with fallen trees revealed a linear feature comprising stone blocks. The blocks, a mixture of reused dressed stone, roughly dressed pieces, and unshaped rocks, seem to define the southern side of the ditch on the southern side of the lane and causeway to the east of the last bridge. This structure may be a revetment to the lane-side ditch and it is probable that the stonework is contemporary with the current bridges.

<13> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ 46 NE 14 (Index). SCH2487.

Three medieval pack horse bridges, as described above, and centred at SJ 4766 6568, SJ 47656572 and SJ 47736573. The eastern bridge is approached from the E side and linked to the centre bridge by raised, stone-revetted causeways surfaced with cobble stones. The bridges have been strengthened by the addition of a further arch of stone and have otherwise, together with the causeways, been restored and are now in an excellent state of condition. They are an outstanding example of this class of antiquity. The bridges are approached by a narrow hollow way to the East, a quarter-mile long. [ASP 27/02/1976]

<14> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1986, Field Observation on SJ 46 NE 14, SJ 46 NE 14 (Unpublished Report). SCH9126.

The bridges are as described. Some recent restoration including replaced masonry and repointing. The central bridge has been protected from erosion (by the River Gowy) by the insertion of ballast upstream. The bridges are connected by a curbed path, overgrown in places, of some 2.3m width. This may be an early feature. The Bridges appear to be contemporary and although of differing size are of similar form; only the central one spans running water. The bridges are in good condition, but have been much restored. [RWN 20/03/1986]

<15> Tarvin Online, Tarvin Online, https://www.tarvinonline.org/newsroom/bridge-detective-2-hockenhull-bridge.html (Web Site). SCH9274.

2019 Article by D. Keogh discussing the cutwaters, papapets and bridge and causeway surfaces.