Union Chain Bridge. Photo by Northumberland County Council.

[NT 93405104] Union Bridge (Suspension) [T.I.]. (1)

Union Chain Bridge, 1820, the earliest suspension bridge in England. (2)

Scheduled. (3)

Improved and strengthened in 1902-3. In use as a road bridge. See G.P. (4)

Union Suspension Bridge, Grade I. (5)

Union Chain Bridge, spans 361ft. Completed in 1820, oldest such bridge to survive. (6)

Union Suspension Bridge (that part in England), Grade I. 1819-20 by Captain S Brown RN. Sandstone ashlar piers. Iron with wood roadway. Iron inscription VIS UNITOR FORTIOR 1820, with roses and thistles intertwined. English side - pier built into cliff. Bronze plaque of 1902. Roadway suspended from three piers of wrought iron chains with elongated bars connected by bar links. Upper steel table is later strengthening. 'Bar link' invented by Samuel Brown and used here for the first time. When it was built it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. It was also remarkable for costing only £5,000 instead of an anticipated £20,000 for a stone bridge. It remains Britain's oldest suspension bridge in road use. (7)

By Sir Samuel Brown. 360ft span. Twelve wrought-iron chains. One stone pylon 60ft high, chains on other (English) side attached to rock face. Steel cables added for strengthening in 1903. (8)

First suspension bridge in Europe to carry vehicular traffic. Brown advised by John Rennie on the abutments and design of tower. A small toll collector's lodge once stood on the English side, removed in 1955, but facade incorporated in anchorage wall. Span of suspension chains is c.146m (480ft); bridge deck span c.120m (390ft). Total cost £7,700. Only took 11 months to complete. Original suspension hangers replaced 1870-1. General refurbishment through 20th century. (9)

Union Chain Bridge is a chain-link suspension bridge spanning the River Tweed. The bridge deck-span is c.120m, but the span of the suspension chains is c.146m. The masonry parts of the bridge are constructed of red sandstone ashlar, tooled and margined except for the dressings.
There is a tower or pylon on the west (Scottish) side, c.18m high, flat-topped, with its sides, ornamented by a channelled rustication, displaying a marked batter: there are a series of chamfered set-backs towards the river, above which the roadway passes through the tower by a round-arched passageway (the channelled rustication continuing on its soffit), with triple-stepped keystones; the import band is continuous round the tower. Just below the top is a bold moulded cornice with modillions; above this, facing the bridge, is a raised panel with a cast-iron plate carrying a painted design of roses and thistles, and the inscription 'VIS UNITA FORTIOR 1820'. The chains are carried up and over the top of the tower, being anchored to a pair of rectangular blocks or masonry piers, flat-topped with a band just below the top, flanking the approach road 13.8m beyond the base of the tower.
There is no such freestanding tower at the English end of the bridge, where the road approach is restricted by river cliffs. The bridge deck is entered between a pair of simple piers, with channelled rustication and low pyramidal caps. The suspension wires are carried on a tower-like structure built into the natural river cliff. This formerly had a flat-roofed toll cottage set against its base, but this was removed in 1955; its Tuscan doorway, with pilasters carrying a modillion cornice, has been re-set in the wall of the tower itself; above is another similar cornice, above which the upper section of the structure has a battered profile, with a top section very like that of the Scottish tower, with the same cast and painted panel. The suspension cables are carried up through the top of the structure to be anchorages in small sunk chambers at the cliff top.
There are three pairs of chains, one above the other, on either side of the deck. The basic unit of the chains is a wrought-iron bar 4.6m long and 52mm in diameter, with a loop at each end. The bars are linked by flat connecting plates, carrying bolts which also link the pairs of chains and hold a cast-iron saddle, set between the chains, from which the vertical support rods (25mm diameter) of the deck are hung. The rods hang alternately from each level of chains, to distribute the load of the deck more evenly.
In addition to the three tiers of chains, in 1902-3 an additional wire-rope cable was added at a higher level, carrying an additional series of support rods.
On the central portion of the deck the chains hang low enough to serve as handrails; on either side there are rails made up of a series of horizontal bars and a broader top rail, stepping down in level by means of a series of swept section with scrolly ends.
At each end of the bridge are arch-topped stones, 0.5m high and 0.15m square, bearing the incised initials 'T.B.T.' (Tweed Bridge Trustees); the western is at the foot of the roadside wall, 3m beyond the northern of the piers where the chains are anchored, and the southern on the west side of the approach road a few metres before the commencement of the bridge deck.
The foundation stone was laid on 2nd August 1819, and the bridge was opened on 26th July 1820. Extensive repairs were carried out in 1872-3 by the Berwickshire and Islandshire Turnpike Trustees, and in 1902-3 by the Tweed Bridge Trustees. The bridge was freed from toll in 1883; the tollhouse on the English side was demolished in 1955 - a detached tollhouse on the Scottish side still stands. The timber deck was replaced in 1902, 1933 and 1974. Alterations to the original chains were carried out in 1979-81.
This is a bridge of outstanding historical importance, of both national and international importance. It was the first suspension bridge for vehicular traffic to be constructed in Europe and marked a major technological advance made possible by Brown's invention of the wrought-iron chain link. Most of Brown's later works, including many other suspension bridges and chain piers at Brighton and Leith, no longer survive.
It is difficult to distinguish between architectural and technological importance; the masonry sections of the structure are certainly of some architectural merit.
The bridge is of considerable landscape value, spanning a picturesque section of the Tweed; it became the subject of a number of 19th century paintings by artists such as Alexander Nasmyth. (10)

[Brief description]. (11)

NT 9339 5102: Union Chain Bridge, Loanend. Descheduled. (12)

A detailed study of the Union Chain Bridge across the Tweed to the north of Horncliffe by Alan Williams Archaeology on behalf of Aecom Transportation during 2010 details the significance and importance of the bridge. The bridge is of particular international historical and technological significance. The bridge has undergone numerous repairs and modifications which include the replacement of the road deck on at least five occasions, the addition of supplementary suspension cables and repairs after previous storm damage. (13)

In 2017, Spence and Dower produced an updated supplement to the 2010 Conservation Management Plan for the Union Chain Bridge over the River Tweed. The document looked at the development, signficance and context of the bridge. (14)

Recorded by NRIM. (15)

This is a Grade I listed building protected by law.