Dere street bridge discovery

Date: 2004-07-20, Publication: The Journal

The way in which the River Tyne has called the tune over human activity across the centuries is being revealed by archaeologists.

The Tyne and Wear Museums team is excavating the remains of what is believed to have been a prestigious and ornamental Roman stone bridge over the Tyne upstream of present-day Corbridge in Northumberland.

The Second Century bridge carried the main Roman road of Dere Street over the Tyne to the Roman town of Corstopitum, upstream of Corbridge.

The dig, which will last until the autumn, has already uncovered massive stone blocks which were part of the retaining walls of a ramp which took the road up to a bridge that stood eight to 10 metres above the river.

The walls mark the path of the Tyne 1,800 years ago when a curve existed which is no longer the case.

Because the course of the river has changed, the path of the bridge now runs diagonally across the water when the structure would have been built at right angles. Erosion from the river caused the walls to collapse into the river in the early medieval period and this probably saved them from later stone robbers. Now the changing river has left the stones at least partially on dry land.

But the Tyne is switching its direction again and increasing erosion of the archaeology has forced the £300,000 excavation, backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage.

The remains of six bridge piers are underwater while the base for a statue has been found and some of the stone blocks have holes to accommodate a balustrade.

It is hoped to find environmental evidence in waterlogged deposits at the site which will reveal when the bridge collapsed. This should show when people abandoned the Roman town area and moved downstream to modern-day Corbridge where the river could be forded.

Dig supervisor Terry Frain said: "It has been very surprising to find these blocks because we expected them to have been robbed and this is a very hopeful sign for the rest of the dig."

An information tent has been provided for the public at the dig site, which is reached by walking half a mile along the riverbank from the south side of the present bridge at Corbridge.

Back to Archive