Table of Contents

1: Introduction
Part I: Bridge Construction and the Creation of the English Road System
2: Numbers
3: Change: 400 to 1250
4: Stability: Bridges and the Road System after 1250
Part II: The Structure of Bridges
5: Challenges, Options, Sources
6: Early Solutions: Timber Deck Bridges and Causeways
7: Vaulted Stone Bridges: From the Eleventh Century to the Late Middle Ages
8: The Golden Age of Stone Bridges: From the Late Middle Ages to the Nineteenth Century
9: Keeping the Bridge Network in Use
Part III: Economics and Society
10: Costs
11: Funding Mechanisms
12: Conclusions: Bridges, Transport, and Pre-Industrial Society

Reviews

This original, carefully researched and well-presented book makes a remarkable contribution to our understanding of the medieval world. Christopher Dyer, Landscape History 'an impressive and beautifully written book with a remarkable chronological range... N.P. Brooks, English Historical Review Remarkably the history and archaeology of medieval bridges is a completely neglected subject... This excellent volume now plugs the gap. Tim Tatton-Brown, Medieval Archaeology This important book of how the network of bridges developed, their design, construction.., and the social and economic questions they raise... Derek Renn, The Antiquaries Journal a very useful book on a very important topic... A particularly attractive feature of the book is that he lays out its main thesis so clearly. John Langdon, Agricultural History Review This book will undoubtedly form the mainstay of all future studies on the subject TLS To the outsider a study of medieval bridges is likely to smell of academic specialization. Yet David Harrison's book calmly avoids obscurity TLS ...a veritable treasure trove of information and conclusions...an essential source of reference for anyone interested in pre-modern transport. An important thorough study of bridges from the Anglo-Saxon period to the Industrial Revolution. Northern History ...provides excellent scholarly surveys... John Hare, Southern History Society, Vol. 28 one of the best books I have read for a long time. Current Archaeology