Mill Dam bridge/Deanbridge
Mill Dam bridge/Deanbridge
HER Number
4599
District
S Tyneside
Site Name
Mill Dam bridge/Deanbridge
Place
South Shields
Map Sheet
NZ36NE
Class
Transport
Site Type: Broad
Road Transport Site
Site Type: Specific
Road Bridge
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Stuart 1603 to 1714
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Description
A bridge, possibly called Deanbridge carried a lane across Mill Dam. There are frequent accounts of 17th century repairs to this bridge. A wooden bridge crossing the Mill Dam is described by Hodgson as barely wide enough for one vehicle to cross. This bridge divided the town into the over and under dammers, "Fishergate" and "Panngate", emphasising the focus of fishing at one end of the town and salt making at the other. A bridge is shown on Richardson's map of 1768 and on Fryer's map of 1772. The bridge may have been preceded by or coexisited with a ford over the Mill Dam (HER ref. 1902).
Easting
435920
Northing
566890
Grid Reference
NZ435920566890
Sources
<< HER 4599 >> J. Fryer, 1772, A Plan of the Low Part of the River Tyne
Richardson, 1768, Plan of South Shields and Westoe
G.B. Hodgson, 1903, The Borough of South Shields, p 138, 121
K, Inkster & S. Speak, 1998, Coronation Street, South Shields, Archaeological Assessment, p 8; Prospect Archaeology, 2015, South Shields Masterplan - Archaeological Assessment
Richardson, 1768, Plan of South Shields and Westoe
G.B. Hodgson, 1903, The Borough of South Shields, p 138, 121
K, Inkster & S. Speak, 1998, Coronation Street, South Shields, Archaeological Assessment, p 8; Prospect Archaeology, 2015, South Shields Masterplan - Archaeological Assessment