Wading through history
The discovery and dating of a ‘lost’ medieval bridge
Scottish medieval bridges are few and far between.We find references in charters and chronicles to just twelve of them over a period of nearly 300 years.There are few descriptions, and even fewer representations, of what these bridges looked like.There is no bridge still standing in Scotland that can be categorically dated earlier than the 15th century.Yet in October 2020, another bridge was added to the short list of Scottish medieval bridges.
The bridge remains were found by Ancrum and District Heritage Society (ADHS), a group of amateur volunteers based in Teviotdale, in the Scottish Borders.The society had been investigating a lost bridge over the River Teviot for over two years. It had first come to our attention when one of our members, Judith Coulson, showed us a transcribed extract from the minutes of the council of the royal burgh of Jedburgh. Dated 9 June 1685, it explained the importance of the bridge, and that repairs were needed. It stated that it was the only bridge ‘within the Shire of Roxburgh’ by which the monarchs had ‘passage to and from Edinburgh’.This bridge was therefore far older than the two that currently span the river at Cleikum Inn.The society realised that there was an important piece of Ancrum history missing and resolved to research its story and try to locate this ‘lost’ bridge.
A LOST STRUCTURE
Trawling the archives brought quick results.Three mapmakers (Roy in 1750, Blaeu in 1654 and Pont in 1583), all show a bridge across the Teviot, downstream from its junction with the Ale Water. Further research of old documents have enabled us to build up a picture of how important the medieval bridge was, not just to Ancrum, but to the borders and to Scotland.
We returned to the original minutes
Under drought conditions a drone aerial survey by Richard Strathie of ADHS produced this remarkable photograph of a stone platform in the middle of the river. You can see the remains of the outline kerbstones and large oak timbers of the structure foundations under the arch of the 1784 bridge
Bob MacKintosh of Wessex Archaeology retrieves an oak brander sample from the River Teviot. The timber basks in direct sunlight for the first time in over 650 years.
of the royal burgh and found more references to the bridge.They were, however, handwritten in auld Scots and hard to decipher.We were lucky to be able to call on the transcribing skills of Heather Waldron of TillVAS (Till Valley Archaeology Society) to help decipher these remaining minutes.The minutes, from 1638 to 1704, record that many attempts were made to find the funds to repair the bridge.The royal burgh appealed to the Scottish parliament, The convention of the royal burghs and the church of Scotland for help. Unfortunately, this was the century of the Bishops War, the English Civil War and the Covenanters War: it was a hard time to raise money for anything other than arms, men and provisions.
The bridge suffered flood damage and deteriorated, as the following excerpt from Chamber’s Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol. iii, p. 134, shows:
At the break of a storm-by which is meant the melting of a great fall of snow-in November 1698, the southern streams were flooded, and the bridge at Ancrum was so broken and damaged that it could no longer be serviceable.This being the only bridge upon the water of Teviot, on an important line of communications between the north and the south in the centre of the Borders, and there being no ferry-boat on the river but one seven miles further up, it was most desirable that it should be rebuilt; but the calculated expense was betwixt eight and nine thousand merks, and an Act of Council offering a pontage to anyone who would undertake this business altogether failed of its object. In these circumstances, the only alternative was a collection at all the church-doors in the kingdom, and permission to make such a levy was accordingly granted by the Privy Council.
THE DISCOVERY
The old maps indicated that the old bridge was in the vicinity of the present bridges, where raised river terraces narrow to squeeze the River Teviot at Cleikum Inn. ADHS made several walkover and wade-through surveys, looking for any possible remains. A definitive drone photograph confirmed a stone platform and timbers in the River Teviot.
Aware now that there were significant timbers lying on the riverbed, last summer we were extremely lucky to be able to call on the services of Coralie Mills of Dendrochronicle, who assisted us in obtaining dendrochronological (tree ring) samples from the timbers in the river.We also obtained funding from CARD (Community Archaeology Radiocarbon Dating) Fund for radiocarbon 14 dating through the SUERC (Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre) laboratories.We intended using both dendrochronology and C14 dating to try to obtain a date for the felling of the oak timbers that lie in the stone platform or pier base.
In the hope of obtaining more information and help, (and under heavy prodding by Dr Chris Bowles of the Scottish Borders Council), in November 2019 we reported our find in a presentation to ELBAC (Edinburgh, Lothians and Borders Archaeology Conference).This resulted in Historic Environment Scotland (HES) becoming enthusiastically involved in our investigations.They generously provided funding for surveys and further radiocarbon dating.
IN DEEP
In forming Project Ancrum Old Bridge, and in discussion with HES, our immediate project aims became self-evident:
1) Establish the extent and age of the
medieval bridge
2) Confirm the state of the remains on the riverbed and assess their vulnerability to erosion
The project is highly unusual in that investigations of old bridge remains in Scotland are few and far between.We understand that the last serious study of Scottish medieval bridge foundations was in 1907, during restoration the Old Bridge of Ayr.There was a study of old Stirling Bridge (Wallace’s) in the 1990s, but the conditions were very difficult, as the Forth is tidal there, so the current
and visibility precluded a detailed study of the remains on the riverbed.
To further those aims, HES provided funds for an initial underwater survey by Wessex Archaeology Coastal and Marine. In two highly successful visits last summer, the team, led by Dr Robert MacKintosh, were able to survey, map, record and further sample the remains, aided by ADHS and Dendrochronicle.Their tremendous report highlighted the importance of the branders, which provided a solid base for the placing of foundation masonry, which would support the pier pillar, that in turn would support the arches of the bridge. They confirmed there were definitely two pier platforms in the riverbed. It also flagged the vulnerability of the bridge remains to river erosion. It confirmed that the best-preserved platform has been undermined in the past year and nearly one quarter of that structure has been lost.
THE RESULTS ARE IN…
In October 2020 the results of the dating of the timber samples submitted to SUERC were released. Much to everyone’s surprise the oak was felled in the mid-1300s.That places it in the era of the Second War of Independence and the arrival of the Black Death in Scotland.
The bridge enabled a dry crossing of the Teviot for short-distance travellers between Jedburgh Abbey and the Bishops Palace at Ancrum, and for long distance travellers between Edinburgh andYork.
Today, in our cars, we cross bridges in a blink of an eye, with hardly a passing thought. In those days crossing a bridge was an event. It was a place where traffic of all kinds met, a place where tolls were taken, and a place for a tavern for refreshment and rest, and where tradespeople gathered to provide services and sell wares.The rivers Tweed and Teviot cut across south east Scotland (along the Berwick-KelsoHawick axis), a severe hinderance to north-south travel in that part of the world.Today there are 24 bridges of various kinds crossing that substantial waterway. In medieval times there may have only been two. In those times, during flood or highwater, the Ancrum bridge may have been the only place to cross the Teviot and Tweed between Hawick and the sea.That’s how important this structure was.
WHAT’S NEXT?
As with much work being done across Scotland during this unprecedented period of the Covid-19 virus, the many facets of our project have suffered delays.There is much ADHS had hoped to do that we have been unable to complete this year. However, the work we have been able to do has been compliant with Scottish Government regulations and we are extremely grateful to all our volunteers and visiting professional archaeologists for their help in this respect.
The society will continue to study the hinterland of the site to help to place the bridge in its archaeological landscape.We are looking at the routes
Today, in our cars, we cross bridges in a blink of an eye, with hardly a passing thought. In those days crossing a bridge was an event
to and from the bridge, whether there were buildings adjacent, and how the surrounding landscape may have been used. A planned photogrammetry survey (by HES) should give us an invaluable aid to placing the bridge in its historical landscape and how its masonry may have been recycled into the fabric of the 1784 toll bridge.
ADHS member Eoin Cox MBE, of The Big Tree Society, identified tool marks (auger, saw, adze and axe) on the timber salvaged from the river. Inspired by the find, he organised an experimental archaeology woodworking day, in which we attempted to replicate the timber joints in green oak.
The society also hope to use the story of the bridge as one of the foci for a series of information boards and heritage walks around Ancrum, bringing the story of the bridge’s regional and national significance back into the community.
Acknowledgements
The society believe this project has been a great example of what a local volunteer archaeology group can achieve. It has brought together a wide range of people, both professional and amateur, in a multifaceted project in a common cause to help explore and understand a newly revealed nationally important strategic structure in a spirit of co-operation, enthusiasm and great good humour.The author is hugely indebted to the following: Richard Strathie, Eoin Cox, Judith Coulson and the members of ADHS. Kevin Grant and Iain Anderson of HES. Coralie Mills and Hamish Darragh of Dendrochronicle. Bob Armstrong and his colleagues at Wessex Archaeology Coastal and Marine. Chris Bowles and Keith Elliott of SBC Archaeology. Ben Burbidge, the Factor of Lothian Estates, Derek Hamilton of SUERC, HeatherWaldron of TillVAS.