The Hemington Bridges: The Excavation of Three Medieval Bridges at Hemington Quarry, near Castle Donington, Leicestershire.

Leicester Archaeology Monograph 16

Detailed Description

RIPPER, S. & COOPER, L.P.

School of Archaeology & Ancient History, University of Leicester (2009), 9780956017918

Rescue excavations at Hemington Quarry, Leicestershire, between 1993-1998 allowed the recording of three successive medieval bridges preserved beneath gravel bar deposits and alluvium. This crossing over the River Trent was part of a major arterial route, the King's Highway, linking London and the south to Derby and the north. This monograph presents the results of a multi-disciplinary study that examined the bridges' structural technology, stone and woodworking practices, geomorphological context, chronology and historical context. Particular emphasis is placed upon the earliest structure, built c. AD 1097, this being a unique survival of Saxo-Norman timber engineering and vernacular architecture.