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Title
Respryn Bridge, Mediæval bridge spanning the River Fowey in the parish of Lanhydrock. #87887203
Description
Respryn Bridge is a five arched mediæval bridge spanning the River Fowey in the parish of Lanhydrock. The place-name indicates a ford here before the bridge was built, carrying an ancient trackway between Bodmin and Looe: traces of which have been identified as a hollow way running north-westwards through Cutmadoc and Colgear Plantation in Lanhydrock Park. The first part of the name Respryn contains the Cornish place-name element rid meaning ââ¬Ëfordââ¬â¢. Documentary evidence indicates a chapel of St Martin on the St Winnow side of the river in the 12th century. This predated the bridge and served the fording point.By 1300, however, there was a bridge here. The Cornish historian Henderson notes that in that year a jury found that the fishing and other rights in the river Fowey ââ¬Ëfrom St Saviourââ¬â¢s Port [Polruan] at the haven mouth to the Bridge of Reprenne so long as two oxen yoked together could advance thereââ¬â¢ belonged to the Lords of Restormel Castle.nThe bridge is of granite and stone rubble construction. The central pointed arch dates to the fifteenth century and probably represents part of the original construction which replaced the earlier thirteenth century bridge.