'Lost' medieval bridge discovered in Borders is oldest in Scotland
The Ancrum Old Bridge, dating back to the 1300s, lay hidden beneath the River Teviot for centuries before being discovered by a local heritage society.The find has been described as 'one of the most important structures of medieval Scotland.'
The remains of the 'lost' bridge were found in at Ancrum, near Jedburgh.Over the last two years, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) have funded the Ancrum and District Heritage Society (ADHS), a local volunteer archaeology group to undertake an investigation which led to the discovery of the ‘lost’ medieval bridge.
And their chance discovery was luckier than they originally realised."One of our members came across this reference to bridge which carried the Kings Way," explained Geoff Parkhouse, of the Ancrum and District Heritage Society (ADHS)."And the more we looked into it the more we realised this bridge had a history, so we thought we'd see if we could find where the it actually was."We walked up and down the river and sent up a drone, and in the photographs was this platform and we knew immediately what it was. "We were just so astonished it was still there after 650 years."
"It's been uncovered due to the river floods and surges and it's only probably been able to be seen in the past three or four years, and in a year or two, it will probably be gone completely."We have just been very very lucky that we've been in the right place at the right time to record and photograph this incredible monument." Built during the reigns of David II of Scotland and Edward III of England, the bridge is sa
id to be of "historic and strategic national importance".
It crossed the Teviot, carrying the Via Regia (The King's Way), on its way from Edinburgh to Jedburgh and the border.
It is believed James V would have crossed at the spot in 1526, as would Mary Queen of Scots on her tour of the Borders in 1566.
Kevin Grant, Archaeology Manager at Historic Environment Scotland said it means that Ancrum is now a much more significant place historically than it originally was.
"The thing that blows my mind about this is its been hidden for about 500 years, it's only maybe been exposed a year ago, and it might be gone in three years, so there's only been a window of four years in five hundred where it could be found and they happen to find it."It will change our whole understanding of the landscape of medieval Scotland. It will change the way we think about the abbeys in the Borders, about castles, about military campaigns and wars of independence. "It means that Ancrum is now a much more significant place historically than it was. And it probably means with that places like Jedburgh and the local abbeys, we might understand that the church had more of an impact in military campaigns and politics and building infrastructure in Scotland."That's kind of a shocker, the date that it came back, right in the middle of the wars of independence is a bizarre time to be building a bridge."So I think it's going to take a while to digest its significance." Without the means or funds to be able to take the bridge remains from the water, the ADHS say they hope to gather and document as much information as possible over the next couple of years, before the current of the Teviot completely erodes what's left, and this ancient relic is lost forever.