Designed by the County Surveyor Thomas Penson in 1826 to replace a wooden bridge. Penson built a lot of bridges across the Severn in his time as County Surveyor and tended to make them rather narrow. This one was no exception and the iron "outriggers" that carry the pavement on both sides were added by Penson in 1857 to replace the original parapets and make the bridge wide enough for traffic to pass in both directions on the bridge itself. River levels were particularly high the day this photo was taken and much of the riverside path was under water
