Usk Bridge (Brecon)

The Usk Bridge
Usk Bridge plaque

The Usk Bridge in Brecon, Powys, Wales is the town's oldest route over the River Usk.

The river was fordable at Brecon and the date of construction of the original bridge here is uncertain. The existing stone bridge was built in 1563[1] and replaced an earlier bridge that was washed away in the floods of 1535.[2] It was widened in 1794 by bridge builder Thomas Edwards, at a cost of £1000[1] (equivalent to £100,000 in 2015)[3]

During the 20th century it was widened further with the addition of metal framed footpaths on either side.[1] In the 1950s it required widening to take modern road traffic and a new concrete bed, described as "functional and safe but extremely ugly", was laid on top of the original stone base.[2]

The bridge is a Grade I listed structure.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Usk Bridge, Brecon". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 Morrison, Mal (2013), Brecon Through Time, Amberley Publishing, pp. 39/40, ISBN 978-1-4456-2707-6, retrieved 29 December 2014
  3. ↑ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2016), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.

Coordinates: 51°56′51″N 3°23′38″W / 51.94756°N 3.39382°W / 51.94756; -3.39382

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