Streets of Norwich – Lady Julian Bridge

Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

Lady Julian Bridge, which is a pretty decent name for a river crossing, is a little difficult to place on an old map, such as the one above from 1900, as so much of the landscape has changed. It connects Old Barge Yard (which is still there today) on the left bank across to some railway building on the right bank, with a cursor I’ve carefully placed marking where it goes over the River Wensum.

The entrance from Riverside, with the bridge taking pedestrians and cyclists over the river. The bridge cost £2.5 million and during the construction phase, it was called the Old Barge Yard Bridge.

Looking back at the bridge, again from the Riverside side. The bridge is named after Lady Julian, an anchoress in a nearby church, which still sort of stands (it was rebuilt thanks to a bombing during the Second World War) who lived in the fourteenth century. She also wrote the first book by a woman which was written in English and she’s still in print, not a bad little effort.

The bridge was constructed in 2009 and it’s a swing bridge, as there is still a need for boat movements along this stretch of the river. There were over 200 entries submitted in 2008 as to what the bridge should be called, with around 40 of them suggesting a theme around Julian of Norwich. I remember submitting an entry of what I thought it should be called, but this ridiculously wasn’t chosen. I won’t say what it was…..