| A proposal to replace the Stapenhill ferry by a bridge was being considered in 1862 but it was not until 1886 that Sir Michael Arthur Bass (later Lord Burton) offered to finance the foot bridge to replace the crowded Stapenhill Ferry. The Marquess of Anglesey agreed to sell the rights to Burton Corporation. The bridge was built by the Burton engineering firm of Thornewill & Warham and was opened on 3rd April 1889 by Lord Burton. Lord Burton also paid for the viaduct, opened in 1890, which ran from the bridge to Green Street, replacing the stepping stones over the Fleet. A toll was charged on the bridge until late in 1898, when Lord Burton paid off the Corporation's outstanding debt on the purchase of the ferry rights. On the day of the opening Lord Burton announced his intention of building a viaduct which would connect the bridge and the town which would do away with the muddy trek from the Fleetstones bridge across the meadows to the new Ferry Bridge. A toll of ½d per person was maintained on the bridge for nine years until the 13th April 1898, when it was declared free of toll. The bridge was renovated in 1969 by the Council but it lost much of its character, many of the ornaments were removed and it was re-painted in black & white rather than the maroon and gold of the original. |
