Bow Bridge: Map of Upper Medway (1739)

Post date: Nov 20, 2015 5:12:29 PM

In Medway Archives at Strood, reference S/Mn DE1192 is a map of the Upper Medway (from Maidstone up) as surveyed by John Momra at Tonbridge in 1739. It shows the course of the river with bridges and locks on the river with some but little else. At Wateringbury alongside the southern part of the river is written The Bow. A key to bridges distinguishes between stone and wooden bridges and the bridge at Wateringbury is shown as wooden. .

The map is likely to have been prepared in connection with the improvement of navigation on the river by the Medway Navigation Comapany. The fact that it is a wooden bridge is surprising given the 1701 report of a 'pons lapidea' (stone bridge).