Hebble End Bridge, Hebden Bridge - TWA00223

HEBBLE END BRIDGE is a single-arch stone bridge on the west side of Hebden Bridge. In the sixteenth century it was known as Litthouse Bridge from the dye¬house near at hand, referred to in the Heptonstall Parish Register as Litte-house. On April 28th, 1685 this order was made at the Pontefract Quarter Sessions: - "Whereas Litthouse Bridge, standing over the River of Calder, was at these Sessions presented to be in ruin and decay, and that the Inhabitants of Erringden within the Parish of Heptonstall ought to repair the same: It is therefore ordered by this Court that the Sum of Forty pounds be imposed and exacted upon the said Towne of Erringden for the Repair of the said Bridge, unless they repair the said Bridge before the next General Quarter Sessions of the peace to be holden for this Riding." In 1748 the bridge was carried away in a great flood and the question arose as to who should pay for the bridge to be rebuilt. Neither end of the bridge was in Erringden as the narrow strip of Sowerby Ramble separated Erringden from the Calder. Consequently Erringden was not legally liable for its repair, although Erringden inhabitants apparently used it more than anybody else. In his paper, "An Erringden Dispute" (HAS Transactions 1947), Mr T.W. Hanson stated that Heptonstall would be liable to pay half the cost of repair, and as it was not possible to fix the other half on Erringden or Sowerby the managers for the West Riding , to save further trouble, paid the cost of rebuilding. In 1748 a contract for rebuilding for £61 7s 6d is recorded in the Quarter Sessions Records. In the 1752 Bridges Book the bridge is designated as a Riding or County Bridge and described as follows:- "Hebble end Bridge is situated over the River Calder near Heptonstall Town, in the Parish of Halifax, new built of good stone but raised so very high that it is scarce possible for Horses. The Bridge, and 30 Feet of the Road to the East, and 10 Feet to the West from each End of the Arch, are well paved, and maintained by the West Riding." In 1757 a reference to the bridge reads " over which river there hath time out of mind been a bridge called Hebble Bridge for the convenience of people going from Erringden to Heptonstall." At the Pontefract Quarter Sessions in April 1805 the bridge was mentioned as needing repair again and to be widened. An inscribed stone over the keystone on the west side of the bridge4 reads "HEBBLE END BRIDGE WIDENED 1806."

Tom Walker

Olwen Forest

1960 , 1960s

PHDA - Tom Walker Collection

Pennine Horizons Digital Archive

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