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Seven Bridges

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Seven Bridges

The river crossing at Bridge Street was the earliest crossing place of the River Kennet. It is probable that this point was the easiest to cross the Kennet, as it flowed through this stretch in many different streams, each one quite shallow, rather than in one deep stream as it did further downstream at the point where High Bridge was built. Upstream the ground was probably too marshy to cross easily.

The bridge over the canal stream was one of the reasons for the canal being closed in 1947. Bridge Street Bridge was in a dangerous condition and had to have extra supports built underneath it. These made the room for boats to go under the bridge much smaller, so small that very few could get through without help. The help that was needed was for the weir at Blakes Lock, a mile downstream to be opened. This, given time, dropped the level of the canal so that the boats stood a chance of going under tbe bridge. If there was still not enough room, very heavy metal weights were put on the boat to make it lower in the water. Most people did not know about this special way of going under the bridge, which meant even less boats on the canal.

As the importance of the river crossing increased, bridges were built over the streams. As there were seven streams there were seven bridges, giving the name of the street. The streams were, from south to north:

1. St Giles’ Mill Stream Flowed along the line of Mill Lane to St Giles Mill where Warner Cinema now is.
2. Main Stream This section which contains County Lock, was not always the main stream. Originally St Giles Mill Stream carried most of the water.
3. Flood Relief Channel 10m north of main stream
4. Flood Relief Channel north of 3
5. Grey’s Lock Stream Also known as Simonds Ditch. This was part of a network of small streams which were navigable by small boats at one time.
6. Minster Mill Stream Originally carried water to the Minster Mill, which may have dated from the Saxon period
7. Holy Brook Built to drive the Abbey Mill and to drain the toilets of the Abbey. May have been used to carry construction materials to the abbey.

The course of some of these streams could be easily seen in the period between the demolition of the brewery and the construction of the Oracle. Streams 3 to 6 have probably been blocked by the foundations of the Oracle. St Giles’ Mill Stream still leaves the Kennet just after the IDR bridge and rejoins the main stream over a weir under the Oracle Riverside car park. The Holy Brook is visible from the Oracle entrance near Heelas.