This section in The Stripling Thames by Fred Thacker
1910: Thames Valley Villages by Charles G Harper
Red Lion, Castle Eaton.
Red Lion does bar food and has a steep garden
down to the river. Very pleasant.
Flow is high and mooring may be hazardous.
A good destination
from Lechlade for unpowered boats. Even a
rowing boat with riggers might find it difficult because of width.
Immediately above the Red Lion is -
Castle Eaton Bridge
1888: from " The Thames: Oxford to its Source" by Paul Blake -
“I suppose it’s the same sort of thing all the way up now”, remarked Martin, as they left Kempsford behind them.
“Yes, the varnish will have all departed from the poor old Swan by the time we reach Cricklade”,
said Figgis ruefully; “this smashing through rush beds and dragging through shallows doesn’t improve a boat much.”
“Never mind, captain, only six miles more”, said Budd, “on you go.”
They went on, the river becoming narrower and shallower as they progressed.
Even below Kempsford it can be crossed at low water on the stepping-stones laid on the sill of the old weir;
so it is plain that the end of the journey must be near.
Castle Eaton Bridge was next passed after a long struggle with some cantankerous rush-beds with weeds intermingled.
The village contains some curious antiquarian remains,
but the crew were too anxious to end their day’s work to stop to examine them.
If you can pass this bridge you can probably get to Cricklade.
1692: Baskervile -
Built wt timber stone peers and planks & railes tis about 73 yards over 34 arches for water to pass & at ye end of a long stone Casway a bridge of 2 arches. Postes between them make 8 Arches.
1870: Castle Eaton Bridge, Henry Taunt -
Castle Eaton Bridge, Henry Taunt, 1870
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; HT4256
1889: A S Krausse, A Pictorial History of the Thames -
A very quaint bridge with triangular corrugate piers.
Castle Eaton Bridge, 1889
[ The 1889 bridge does not appear to me to be the bridge which Taunt photographed
in 1870. The 1870 bridge is almost flat, whereas in 1889 there is a distinct
crown. And in 1889, as Krausse says, "triangular corrugate piers". ]
1893: A New bridge.
1896: 'A Tale of the Thames' by Joseph Ashby-Sterry - [coming downstream by canoe from Cricklade to Lechlade]
A little more than a mile and a half further will bring us to Kempsford,
where we can have luncheon and get thoroughly dry.
...
they emerged from the shelter of the bridge, and though there is no vestige remaining of Lord Zouche's Eiton Castelle,
whence the place takes its name, the caught a glimpse of the Rectory gardens, the quaint village,
St Mary's Church with its picturesque bell-tower and its graveyard almost reaching to the water.
This, by the way, is the first church absolutely on the river bank, an example which is pretty extensively
followed on the Thames from this point to Westminster Abbey.
They observe, too, that the river has here increased considerably in breadth,
and in a little distance below the church at Washpool, it turns abruptly to the left at almost a right angle
and then runs nearly parallel with the Thames and Severn Canal,
approaching it more closely as it gets nearer to Kempsford,
1897: Third Castle Eaton Bridge, James Dredge -
Castle Eaton Bridge, James Dredge, 1897
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; D230431a
1910: Thames Valley Villages by Charles George Harper
Here the Thames was until quite recent years crossed by
a most delightful old bridge, that looked like the ruins
of some very ancient structure whose arches had
been broken down and the remaining piers crossed
by a makeshift affair of white-painted timber.
"Makeshift" is perhaps hardly the word to be properly used here, for it seems to indicate a temporary
contrivance; and this bridge, if not designed in keeping
with the huge, sturdy, shapeless stone and rubble
piers, was at any rate sufficiently substantial to have
existed for many generations, and to have lasted for
many yet to come.
Alas that we should have to
write of all this in the past tense! But it is so. Twenty
years ago [1890], when the present writer paid his first visit
to Castle Eaton, the old bridge was all that has just
been described and more ; for no pen may write,
nor tongue tell, of the beauty of that old, time-worn
yet not decrepit, bridge, that carried across the
Thames a road of no great traffic, and would have
continued still safely to carry it for an indefinite
period.
It was one of the expected delights of re-visiting the Upper Thames, to renew acquaintance
with this bridge, sketched years before ; and it was
with a bitter but unavailing regret and a futile anger
that, coming to the well-remembered spot, it was
seen to have been wantonly demolished, and its place
taken by a hideous, low-pitched iron girder bridge,
worthy only of a railway company; and so little likely
to be permanent that it is observed to be already
breaking into rusty scales and scabs beneath its
hideous red paint.
The ancient elms that once formed
a gracious background to the old bridge stand as of
old beside the river bank ; but the old bridge itself
lies, a heap of stones that the destroyers were too
lazy to remove, close by, on the spot on which they
were first flung.
No description, it has been said,
can hope to convey the beauty of Castle Eaton Bridge,
for the old stone piers were hung with wild growths,
and spangled and stained with mosses and lichens.
A sketch of one end of it may serve ; but it once
formed the subject of a painting by Ernest Waterlow,
and in that medium at least, its hoary charm has been
preserved.
The old Castle Eaton Bridge
1910: Castle Eaton Bridge
Let a photograph of its existing successor be here the all-too-shameful evidence of the
wicked ways of the Thames Conservancy with this
once delightful spot in particular, and with such spots
in general.
We cannot frame to use language too
strong for a crime so heinous against the picturesque.
Let us recapitulate the facts, and draw the indictment more exactly against that sinning body. We
shall thus ventilate a righteous indignation, and help
to create a healthy public feeling against all such
damnable doings, by whomsoever done. We are,
of necessity, in this country of change and of an increasing population, faced with a continuous
defacement of places ancient, beautiful and historic; and
it behoves us to use our utmost efforts to preserve
what we have left.
What, then, shall we say of such
absolutely unnecessary outrages as this? Shall we
not revile the whole body responsible, from the Board
and the Secretary down to the chief engineer and
the staff of underlings who did the deed? The
Thames Conservancy, in fact, has been a most diligent
destroyer of the beauty of the river; slaving early
and late and overtime in that devil's work, but remaining supremely idle where the encroachments
of private persons, or the uglifications by waterworks
companies, and modern mill- and factory-builders are
concerned.
It is the Thames Conservancy that has
repaired the banks of the river and has reinforced
the walls of its weirs and lock-cuts, with hideous bags
and barrels of concrete, that retain their bag-and-barrel shape for all time, and so render miles of river-side
sordid in the extreme. We simply cannot afford
these ways with the river.
1920: Fred Thacker -
The present deplorable iron trough was thrown across, in place of the old bridge, in 1893. The Conservancy is often blamed for its hideousness; their responsibility amounts only to acquiescence; I understand the Swindon District Board was the actual artist.
1929: A Thames Survey -
The old bridge was of timber with stone piers and stone causeway. It was replaced in 1893 by the present iron girder bridge with brick piers. The whole structure is of most deplorable design and painted a vermilion colour. This bridge was vigorously criticized at the time of erection, and it is still the worst disfigurement at Castle Eaton, and the only one on the river between Lechlade and Cricklade. It serves local traffic needs.
Castle Eaton Bridge.
In 2002 I wrote “a temporary girder bridge with obstruction warnings beneath”.
However it seems this is still the “deplorable iron trough” that Fred
Thacker mentioned.
Water depth under the bridge maybe two feet.
2002: On first attempt the punt came to a halt
and rapidly returned downstream. A half
shove did not feel possible (bridge too low).
For a second attempt I got out the double
ended paddle and really went for it – unfortunately with much the same result –
I could just keep the punt stationary under the bridge – but could make no
further progress.
For the third attempt I stood down off
the till (Thames style!) and punted,
succeeding in using several half shoves under the bridge.
The current just above the bridge was
enormously strong and it took me a minute or two of strenuous work to clear the
few yards above the bridge, all the time in danger of being turned and swept
down into the bridge. Fortunately the
current then let up and the next section had a much easier flow.
Site of Castle Eaton Mill
1790: Castle Eaton Mill mentioned by Ireland.
1920: Fred Thacker -
I do not know that there is now one stone of it [Castle Eaton Mill] left upon another. It was on the right bank about a quarter of a mile above the bridge.
(Upstream to Marston Meysey)
Introduction
Estuary
PLA
QEII Br
Barrier
Tower Br
Custom Ho
London Br
; Frost Fairs
Cannon St Rb
The Great Stink
Southwark Br
Millenium Br
Blackfriars Rb
Blackfriars Br
Waterloo Br
Charing Cross Rb
Westminster Br
Lambeth Br
Vauxhall Br
Victoria Rb
Chelsea Br
Albert Br
Battersea Br
Battersea Rb
Wandsworth Br
Fulham Rb
Putney Br
Hammersmith Br
Barnes Rb
Chiswick Br
Kew Rb
Kew Br
RICHMOND
Twickenham Br
Richmond Rb
Richmond Br
TEDDINGTON
Kingston Rb
Kingston Br
Ditton Slip
Hampton Br
MOLESEY
SUNBURY
Walton Br
Desborough Cut
SHEPPERTON
Chertsey Br
CHERTSEY
M3 Br
Laleham Slip
PENTON HOOK
Staines Rb
Staines Br
Runnymede Br
BELL WEIR
Magna Carta Is
OLD WINDSOR
Albert Br
Datchet
Victoria Br
Black Potts Rb
ROMNEY
Eton
Windsor Br
Windsor Rb
Windsor Slip
Elizabeth Br
BOVENEY
Dorney Lake
York Cut
Summerleaze Fb
MonkeyIsland
New Thames Br
BRAY
Bray Slip
Maidenhead Rb
Maidenhead Br
Below Boulters
BOULTERS
Cliveden
Hedsor
COOKHAM
Cookham Slip
Cookham Br
BourneEnd RFb
Quarry Woods
A404 Br
MARLOW
Marlow Br
Bisham
TEMPLE
HURLEY
Medmenham
Culham Ct
Aston Slip
HAMBLEDEN
Temple Is
Fawley Ct
Remenham
Regatta
Phyllis Ct
Henley Slip
Leander
Red Lion
Henley Br
Angel on Br
Landing
Hobbs Boatyard
Hobbs Slipway
MARSH
Hennerton
Bolney
Wargrave
Shiplake Rb
R.Loddon
SHIPLAKE
Sonning Br
SONNING
Dreadnought
K&A Canal
CAVERSHAM
Reading Br
Caversham Br
Reading Slip
Purley
MAPLEDURHAM
Hardwick Ho
Whitchurch Br
WHITCHURCH
Hartswood Reach
Gatehampton Rb
Goring Gap
Goring Br
GORING
Swan
CLEEVE
Moulsford
Moulsford Rb
Papist Way Slip
Winterbrook Br
Wallingford Br
BENSON
Shillingford Br
R.Thame
DAYS
Burcot
Clifton Hampden
Clifton Church
Clifton H Br
Barley Mow
Long Wittenham
CLIFTON
Appleford Rb
Sutton Courtenay
Sutton Br
CULHAM
Culham Cut Fb
Abingdon Slip
Abingdon
Abingdon Br
ABINGDON
Nuneham Rb
Nuneham
Nuneham Park
Radley Boats
SANDFORD
Rose Island
Kennington Rb
Isis Br
Iffley Mill
IFFLEY
Oxford Rowing
Isis
Donnington Br
Riverside Slip
Boathouses
Punting
Lower Cherwell
Upper Cherwell
Islip
Head of River
Salters Steamers
Folly Br
Bacons Folly
Oxford Fb
Osney Fb
Weir stream
Osney Rb
Bullstake Stream
Osney Marina
OSNEY
Osney Br
Four Rivers
OLD RIVER
CANAL
Medley Weir Site
Medley Fb
Bossoms
Perch
Trout
GODSTOW
Godstow Nunnery
Godstow Br
Thames Br
KINGS
River Evenlode
EYNSHAM
Swinford Br
Oxford Cruisers
PINKHILL
Farmoor
Stanton Harcourt
Bablock Slip
Arks Weir Site
NORTHMOOR
Harts Fb
Rose Revived
Newbridge
Maybush
River Windrush
below Shifford
SHIFFORD
Shifford Fb
Tenfoot Fb
Trout Inn
Tadpole Br
RUSHEY
Old Mans Fb
RADCOT
Radcot Cradle Fb
Swan Inn
Radcot New Br
Radcot Old Br
GRAFTON
Eaton Hastings
Kelmscott
Eaton Fb
BUSCOT
Bloomers Hole Fb
Trout Inn
St Johns Br
ST JOHNS
Halfpenny Br
Marina Slip
LIMIT
Inglesham
Hannington Br
Kempsford
Castle Eaton Br
Marston Meysey
A419 Br
Cricklade
SOURCE?
THAMES HEAD
SEVEN SPRINGS