Yarm Bridge

The main thoroughfare through the town of Yarm was historically West Street, which at the River Tees led to a ford. A "bridge of Yarum" is mentioned in 1228, with a bridge at the location seemingly in a bad condition, in 1305 when Edward I granted a 5 year toll to repair it. During the English Civil War the northmost arch of the bridge was destroyed and was replaced by a draw bridge, to prevent parliamentary forces from attacking the controlling royalists. This span was not replaced until 1785. Partly as a result of a desire to avoid this problem in future and a need to increase the bridge's capacity for traffic, it was decided, in 1803, to replace the bridge with an iron bridge.…