White Mill Bridge over the river Stour at Sturminster Marshall is believed to be Dorset's oldest bridge, a bridge having been recorded in the vacinity of White Mill in 1174-5. It is not certain how much of the original stone structure remains within the present-day bridge but the lower portions may date from the 12th century and the arches may have been rebuilt in the sixteenth.
What we do know about White Mill Bridge is that it has been extensively repaired over the centuries. The County took over responsibility for the bridge from the parish in 1667 and major repairs to it were ordered in 1713. In 1909, the roadway carried by the bridge was lowered by nine inches and relaid in reinforced concrete. The piers of the bridge had been built on timber rafts supported on oak piles driven into the river bed. In 1964-5, the timber rafts were replaced by concrete.
White Mill Bridge is unusual amongst medieval Dorset bridges in not having been widened although its width is a generous twelve feet between the parapets.
White Mill Bridge is one of twenty Dorset bridges to carry such a warning. Others are Sturminster Marshall, Sturminster Newton.
|
DORSET
ANY PERSON WILFULLY INJURING
ANY PART OF THIS COUNTY BRIDGE WILL BE GUILTY OF FELONY AND
UPON CONVICTION LIABLE TO BE
TRANSPORTED FOR LIFE
BY THE COURT
7&8 GEO 4C 50 B13 T. FOOKS |
Sturminster Marshall bridge still bears an iron plate, the text of which is reproduced on the right. It warned Georgian inhabitants and visitors alike of the harsh penalties which would befall anyone caught damaging the structure.
The bridge is built of eight semicircualr stone arches, each having four ribs. The four central arches have a span of c.20 feet, each of the two outer arches being smaller but spanning only c.16 feet. The voussiors on the outer ribs are composed of alternate white limestone and red sandstone blocks giving White Mill Bridge its distinctive appearance.
The downstream, as well as the upstream, ends of the piers are protected by massive cutwaters. These rise to the full height of the parapet where they serve as pedestrian refuges. Between the cutwaters, the parapet wall rests on a projecting string course which is supported by small corbels. The level of the string course rises as the arches beneath increase in diameter towards the center of the bridge. The parapet itself is built to give a long curve.
see also: DORSET BRIDGES
White Mill Bridge features in a Dorset legend which claims that the people of Sturminster Marshall were in need of new bells for the parish church. They took the bells from Knowlton church but, finding themselves chased by the villagers of Knowlton, they cast the bells into the Stour from the bridge. When the thieves returned to recover the bells, they could not prevent them from slipping back into the waters however hard they tried and, the legend tells, there they lie to this day.
The Wareham Forset Way ends at Sturminster Marshall where it meets the meets the Stour Valley Way following the river from its source at Stourhead to Christchurch.
