Not so much an iconic building, but an iconic structure, so pivotal as it is, having joined the divisions of “north and south” Bawburgh for nearly 200 years, each claiming to be “upper Bawburgh”! Seriously, it is well used and well loved. Its status as a Scheduled Ancient Monument (Number Norfolk 348) applied in 1976 confirms its importance. It is also No. 12721 on the Sites and Monuments Record at the Norfolk Landscape Archaeology unit, at Gressenhall Museum. It is described as an “Arched structure of stone and brick” but a visit in 1977 declared it “not worthy of comment”. How dare they! However, when the Bridge was re-visited in 1979, it was suitably declared “A pleasant bridge—but not outstanding”. Better. For your detailed information, the County Surveyor in 1866 measured its three semi-circular arches, the centre arch with a 16’3” span, and the outer arches of 13’8”. It is coned with 6” saddleback Portland stone and the roadway is 13’8” wide, the parapet being 3’8” above the road. The present bridge replaced a previous one built during the early 1600s. It was another 200 years before the present bridge was built, in 1815, and was the subject of work by divers late in the 1800s, when presumably the iconic cross ties were fixed. More recent repairs took place in 2007, which hopefully will sustain our iconic central symbol. Although a weight limit does exist, there is no way the daily load it now endures could have been predicted when it was built in 1815.

Philip and Sue Eagle’s home has certainly had a pole position in the village for centuries. Always handy for the public house, it seems to have survived remarkably for 400 years right on the roadside. It has a wonderful mixture of flint, red brink and ashlar stone (possibly from an earlier religious building) construction. This type of stone can be seen in many cottages in this central part of the village. It is not only an iconic building, but in an iconic position, overlooking as it does, the village green and most activity which goes on! It probably started life as a single dwelling, converted to three cottages during the 1700s, and back again in the Twentieth Century. Philip tells us the rafters are numbered with Roman numerals, so that they went up in the right order. There are the initials I.B. on the east gable tie ends. Old directories can direct us to the names of Blacksmiths over the centuries, the first named, a John Brown in 1836. His son, Daniel, had taken over by 1854. By 1868, James Cole was named as Smith and Wheelwright. With the Kings Head next door, similar names crop up linking the two properties. By 1883, George Chenery was Blacksmith. His son Charlie was later to take over and he and his wife Jessie were also Landlords next door at the Kings Head until 1928. Philip moved in in 1973 and has sympathetically restored the property, but now, in his capacity as a sheep farmer, the noises of bleating orphan lambs have replaced noises from the Blacksmiths forge.