CLATTERN BRIDGE Photo @Matt Brown
Clattern Bridge, Kingston upon Thames, was built prior to 1293, probably to replace an early ford and amazingly is still in use today. A good example of a medieval multi-span bridge and still containing impressive medieval masonry it was once known as Clateryngbrugge maybe because of the sound horses made crossing it. Unfortunately I can find no trace of Richard III ever using it in his travels although there is a tenuous link – Shakespeare’s King Richard III was recently performed at the Rose Theatre – a short distance away from the bridge!
Clattern shown as Clayton Bridge John Roque’s map c1761.
This wonderful old bridge doesn’t actually cross the Thames, but the Hogsmill River which is a tributary of the Thames. However it is but a very short distance from the present Kingston Bridge where close by once stood an earlier bridge and it is probable that it was this bridge that the funeral cortege of Richard’s niece, the 15 year old Princess Mary , crossed over, on her way to burial at Windsor having died at Greenwich in May 1482.
Princess Mary Plantagenet from the Royal Window Canterbury. Restored and now in the Burrell Collection Glasgow.
Clattern Bridge Photo@Eric Hands
Clattern Bridge @ Lloyd Rich
Lovely old Clattern Bridge, what a story its stones could tell if they could only speak, is now Grade 1 listed and according to Historic England is scheduled as an ancient monument of national importance.
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