The rebuilt Serpentine Bridge. October 2001


Serpentine Bridge, Hardwick Park, Sedgefield 2007

The Serpentine Bridge is located within the grounds of Hardwick Park, Sedgefield, County Durham. On the site of the former Gothic Bridge, it was constructed to span the Serpentine River at Hardwick in the southernmost part of the grounds. It enabled the visitor, following a circuitous walk, to proceed from the Temple of Minerva to the Ruin. In the eighteenth century, the Rustic Seat also stood along the route to the bridge, but this is now lost.

The Gothic Bridge fell into decay in the second half of the twentieth century, and the span of the bridge finally collapsed during repairs in 1994. A new bridge, substantially a replica of the original, was built on the abutments and opened in 1995.