Thieves Bridge Road, Watlington
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Thieves Bridge Road, Watlington by Adrian S Pye as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Thieves Bridge Road, Watlington
Image: © Adrian S Pye Taken: 22 Feb 2019
Thieves Bridge is a barely-noticeable bridge over a small stream. Tales tell that once, long ago, men stole the bells from Tottenhill church just over a mile away. As they were too heavy to carry away in one go, the robbers hid the bells under this bridge for safe-keeping - but, they were of course found, and the thieves later apprehended and hanged. After this event, the name of Thieves' Bridge stuck, and indeed a road, a wood and a nearby farm are now so named after the bridge. As it happens, one of the bells of St. Botolph's was indeed stolen in 1642, and it only has one now, so it seems the legend may have a kernel of truth. Source: Arthur Randell (ed. Enid Porter): ‘Sixty Years a Fenman’ (R & K P, 1966). P.78. From the excellent website https://www.hiddenea.com/norfolkw.htm
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
52.668144
Longitude
0.400643