Sources for Piercebridge Roman Bridge

This list includes the key material, visual and written sources for the study of Piercebridge Roman Bridge.

Black and white photograph of the bridge abutment and pavement during excavation
The bridge abutment and pavement, seen from the south, shortly after their discovery in 1972 © Durham County Council Archaeology Section

Material Sources

The majority of extant material relating to the bridges derives from the 1972 excavations by Peter Scott, the investigations of the riverbed by Raymond Selkirk in the 1980s and more recent work by local divers.

The records of the excavations at Piercebridge between 1969 and 1981 are available online.

The Bowes Museum

The field records and finds from the 1972 excavations (including pottery, coins, brooches, figurines and organic material such as leather shoes) are held by the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham. Enquiries about access should be made to info@thebowesmuseum.org.uk.

Visual Sources

The Historic England Archive, Swindon, holds a collection of survey drawings and modern photographs of the site and associated finds.

Published Secondary Sources

Antiquarian Account

Hutchinson, W, History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, vol 3 (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1794) [accessed 12 March 2013]

Excavation Report

Fitzpatrick, AP and Scott, PR, ‘The Roman bridge at Piercebridge, North Yorkshire–County Durham’, Britannia, 30 (1999), 111–32 [accessed 7 March 2015; subscription required]

Other Publications

Anderson, JD, Roman Military Supply in North-east England: An Analysis of an Alternative to the Piercebridge Formula, British Archaeological Report (BAR) 224 (Oxford, 1992)

Anon, ‘Piercebridge’, Current Archaeology, 40 (1973), 136–41

Bidwell, PT and Holbrook, N, Hadrian’s Wall Bridges (London, 1989)

Casey, PJ, ‘A votive deposit from the river Tees at Piercebridge’, Durham Archaeological Journal, 5 (1989), 37–42

Cool, HEM and Mason, DJP, Roman Piercebridge: Excavations by DW Harding and Peter Scott, 1969–1981, Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Report 7 (Durham, 2008)

Dymond, DP, ‘Roman bridges on Dere Street, County Durham’, Archaeological Journal, 118 (1961), 136–64

Hay, TT, ‘Engineering aspects of Piercebridge Roman bridges’, Durham Archaeological Journal, 8 (1992), 63–70

O’Connor, C, Roman Bridges (Cambridge, 1993)

Richardson, GH and Keeney, GS, ‘Excavations at the Roman fort of Piercebridge 1933–4’, Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland, 7 (1934–6), 235–66

Scott, P, Guide to the Visible Remains of Roman Piercebridge (1977; updated and revised by D Mason, Durham, 2007)

Scott, P, ‘The bridges at Piercebridge, co Durham: a reassessment’, Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland, new series, 6 (1982), 77–82

Selkirk, R, The Piercebridge Formula (Cambridge, 1983)

Selkirk, R, ‘A bridge 2 far’, Tyne and Tweed, 44 (1988), 25–34

Walton, P, ‘The finds from the river’, in HEM Cool and DJP Mason, Roman Piercebridge: Excavations by DW Harding and Peter Scott, 1969–1981, Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Report 7 (Durham, 2008), 286–93

Ward, M, ‘A collection of samian ware found close to the first bridge at Piercebridge’, Journal of Roman Pottery Studies, 12 (2005), 179–83

Wooler, E, The Roman Fort at Piercebridge (Frome and London, 1917)

Unpublished Secondary Sources

‘Piercebridge Roman Bridge Conservation Statement’, English Heritage (Yorkshire Region), 2002 

'step into englands story