Monument record 0881500000 - Bridge over the River Wye, Bassetsbury Lane.

Watching brief carried out by John Moore Heritage Services between November 2004 and March 2005 during bridge reconstruction works, recorded post-medieval consolidation layers within both river channels at Bassetsbury Lane. The north and south channels had been raised with a flint gravel deposit, possibly to prevent erosion of the chalk bed downstream of Bassetsbury Mill. The east end and both sides of the 'island' between the 2 channels had also been consolidated with rammed chalk and dumped deposits, possibly in the 17th century. On the north side the dumped deposits were retained by driven timber piles. It is suggested that the consolidation of the east end was possibly as a result of erosion caused by turbulence around a central pier of an earlier brick bridge. Later consolidations on the north side of the island incorporated a low wall or curb of brick, whilst the north face of the south channel had been faced in stone and the centre of the island had been further raised by layers of clayey silt and silty chalk (B1).