How old is the Roman Bridge at Blackpill?

The Roman Bridge, Blackpill, Mumbles. Photo: Stuart Bishop.

The Old Roman Bridge, Blackpill, Mumbles. Photo: M A Clare.

How old is the Roman Bridge at Blackpill?

The bridge was repaired within the last 10 years, when it was said to have been constructed in the C18. However, there are records documenting its existence in the C17, which is explained in an extract from the article, Exploring the 'Old' Road from Swanzey Town to Oystermouth by Carol Powell

The Blackpill river, which formed the boundary between the two Manors or Parishes of Oystermouth and Swansea, was connected by a 'Roman-style' bridge, which facilitated the transport of goods. The Bridge was strategically placed and crossed the river very near the Mill, which would have been one of the most important amenities for the community, where people would take their grain to be milled, and adjacent to some 'winnowing gardens' where the grain would have been separated from the chaff. The mill had been built near the boundary of the Manor of Oystermouth and not in the middle, as it was the only place close enough to a good water source to power its wheel.

The Old Roman Bridge, Blackpill, with the main line railway station behind,

The bridge itself was in evidence in 1676, when Morgan Jone (sic) the Miller at Blackpill Mill and one of the Constables of the Oystermouth Manor, was charged with 'annoyance of the highway by suffering water to pass out of its course' and was given one month to put right his errant leat or be fined 6s..8d. In 1680, he was again before the court 'for want of scouring of the trouch of Blackpill, whereby the road is become very bad (sic) . . . which ought to be scoured at the charge of Morgan John (his proper name), the Miller, the watercourse at Brockholl into the highway leading to Blackpill bridge . . . to be scoured by a month's time on pain of 10s. . . ' The bridge continued in a delapidated state until 1681, when the Surveyors for the Oystermouth Leet Court reported that it was in dire need of repair and recorded that, 'A common bridge over a certain common river called Blackpill river, as much of the said bridge as lyeth in the parish of Oystermouth within the said manor, is out of repair to the common annoyance of His Majesty's people passing that way and ought to be repaired by the inhabitants of the said parish.'

But there were complications, as the bridge spanned the Blackpill river, which bordered the two Parishes of Oystermouth and Swansea (Sketty only became a separate parish in 1851) and, as the unit of local government at that time was the Parish, each one was only prepared to repair its half. The work on the Oystermouth half was supposed to be finished within two months, but five years later the Oystermouth locals were ordered to repair the rails on their half, which still remained unfinished. Could this be the same 'Roman' bridge which we see today or its replacement. Or Perhaps reaching back through the Victorian, Georgian, Stuart, Tudor and Plantagenet periods and beyond?