Victoria Bridge, Bath
bridge in Bath, England
Victoria Bridge in Bath, England, was built in 1836 across the River Avon. The bridge has been recognised as a Grade II* listed building.
Victoria Bridge is an important example of a suspension bridge which initially carried horses and carts but later carried cyclists and pedestrians.
Construction
Victoria Bridge is a Dredge taper bridge, a type which modern viewers often see as a hybrid between a suspension bridge and a cable-stayed bridge, built by Motley and Dredge. It has a span of 45.7 metres (150 ft) with the chains slung from Bath stone towers. The road deck is joined to the chains by iron eyebars, which, unusually, are not vertical. James Dredge who was a brewer in Bath designed the bridge to carry beer from his brewery across the river without using a ferry or having to detour through the city centre. Construction cost £1,760. He patented the 'taper principle' based on using chains rather than cables, as is now more common in suspension bridges. Dredge's bridge design was considered "a very significant yet relatively short-lived phase in suspension bridge development".
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Victoria Bridge, Bath” as bridge in Bath, England. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as bridge in Bath, England. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7926596. Authority coordinates are 51.383, -2.373. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1836.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Victoria Bridge, Bath”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Victoria Bridge, Bath primary sources, Victoria Bridge, Bath archive and Victoria research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Victoria Bridge, Bath”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Victoria Bridge, Bath” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.