Moving just a few yards from last week's feature on the Wilts United Dairy, we take a look at the bridge over the River Avon.

Before the Melksham bypass this was the only route through the town and the area was often under threat of rising water. The flooding of the main street was an annual occurrence and usually extended from Union Street down to what was then the Bell Inn.

Flooding remained a hazard until the River Avon's course was altered and a flood elevation scheme set in place in the 1960s.

This elevation scheme included widening and deepening the river bed and a new weir. The river was diverted to a new course nearer the playing fields and the old course filled in, creating additional land for extensions to the rubber works.

The town of Melksham itself developed at a ford across the River Avon. It is thought that a norseman founded a settlement on the bank of the River Avon, probably where there was shallow water to allow a crossing or at a narrow point where fallen trees could span the water.

At this river crossing point a bridge was built and is first mentioned in records of 1415 when William Honeston bequeathed a sum towards its maintenance. In 1637, the bridge was in such a bad state that a court ordered the townspeople to repair it subject to a £40 fine.

The bridge was swept away by a flood in 1809 and the present stone bridge of four arches took its place as illustrated in our pictures. Up to 1928 there was only one footpath on the bridge when the bridge was widened to provide a footpath on both sides. The archive picture above shows the bridge before a second footpath was added.