Magdalene Bridge
A single cast-iron Gothic Revival span of 1823, standing where Cambridge's first river crossing was.
Magdalene Bridge carries the road over the River Cam at the point where Magdalene Street meets Bridge Street. It is also called the Great Bridge. Magdalene College stands just to the north of it, and St John's College lies a little way to the south.
The first crossing
A Roman ford, dated to around 50 AD, was close to this spot, and so was the first Roman bridge, which was probably rebuilt by Offa in the eighth century. A series of wooden bridges followed, and James Essex built the first stone one in 1754. The crossing is the one that gave the town its name.
For a long time traffic coming from Chesterton had no other way over the river. That changed in 1890, when Victoria Avenue Bridge opened as the first of two new bridges authorised by an Act of 1889.
The present bridge
The Norwich architect Arthur Browne designed the present bridge, in the Gothic Revival style. It was built in 1823 as one cast-iron span, with decorative iron railings that end in stone piers. The bridge was listed at Grade II in 1969, and work in 1982 strengthened it.
Practical notes
The bridge is a convenient place to look along the river. The Pickerel Inn is on Magdalene Street, north of the bridge, and The Baron of Beef is a few minutes away on Bridge Street, to the south. See also the other crossings in the Cambridge bridges guide.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
