Tarr Steps - stone walkways across the Barle River in Exmoor National Park , Somerset , England [1] . They are located in a national nature reserve 4 km south-east of Vitipula And 6 km north-west of Dulverton .
| Tarr Steps | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Official name | Tarr steps |
| Project name | pedestrian |
| Crosses | Barl |
| Location | Exmoor , UK |
| Design | |
| Material | a rock |
| Number of spans | 17 |
| total length | 55 m |
| Bridge width | 1.5 m |
| The height of the arch above the water | OK. 1m |
| Exploitation | |
| Closing for renovation | 1952, 1979, 2012 |
The time for laying the footbridge supposedly belongs to the Middle Ages. It is 55 m long with 17 spans at a height of about 1 meter above the surface of the river. Each slab weighs about two tons [1] . According to legend, the devil folded them to sunbathe [2] . Tarr Steps is listed on the English Heritage List [3] .
During the heavy rains of 2012, half of the bridges were washed away by the river, but later restored [4] . In November 2016, they suffered the same fate [5] .
Content
Title
The name Tarr goes back to the Celtic word tochar , meaning “elevated road”. The English name for bridges "clapper bridge" comes from the Latin "claperius", which means "pile of stones" [1] [6] .
History
Tarr Steps is first mentioned in the Tudor era, but earlier years are considered to be the time of creation [6] . According to one assumption, Tarr Steps belong to the Bronze Age , according to another - to about 1400 AD [7] .
Tarr Steps is an example of the early construction of stone bridges before the invention of the arched method. The middle of the bridge was washed away by a flood during the floods of 1941-1942. In 1945, volunteers and local schoolchildren strengthened the pillars of the bridge, helping specialists from the Samesetsky Historical and Archaeological Society and the Royal Engineers Corps . Restoration work was fully completed in 1952, but in August of the same year the bridge again suffered from a river spill. The following restoration works were carried out in 1979 [1] .
December 22, 2012 Tarr Steps was significantly damaged during the flood, when fallen trees broke off the ropes stretched to protect the walkways from floating debris [4] [7] . The bridge suffered a second time during a flood on November 21, 2016. After the floods in recent years, when the plates were carried away downstream by 46 m, they were numbered [8] . For restoration work it is necessary to adjust the level of the river [9] .
The most damage to the footbridge brought floating debris that accumulates at the base. Previously, garbage was collected by peasants from the surrounding villages of Dulverton And Hawkridge, but after the floods of 1952, the footbridges were threatened by collecting garbage higher along the river of cables stretched over water [10] .
Legend
According to local legend, the devil built bridges to sunbathe on the rocks, and swore to kill anyone who walked along them. Terrified locals sent a bridge across the bridge to check the cat, which disappeared in a haze. Then the priest went to meet the devil. In the middle of the road, the devil met the messenger and began to scold and intimidate him. The priest answered the devil equally, and the devil allowed people to walk along the footbridge, except for the days when he sunbathes [6] [11] .
Natural Reserve
Tarr Steps is located in the department of Exmoor National Park, which extends over 33 hectares in the valley of the river Barl [12] . Cultivar oak ( Quercus petraea ), beech , ash , white maple ( Acer pseudoplatanus ), hazel ( Corylus ), blackberry ( Rubus ), bluebells ( Hyacinthoides non-scripta ) and honeysuckle ( Lonicera ) grow here. Moss , liverwort and lichen are common in the local cool and humid environment [13] . Part of the wooded thickets was cut down for the needs of the local metallurgical industry. River valley and forests belong to the area of special scientific interest of the Barl Valley, as the natural habitat of red deer , dormouse , rare bats ( Barbastella barbastellus ) [14] , otters .
The footbridges across the river Barl are made of roughly chopped stone slabs in an overlap. The total length exceeds the length of other (about 40) similar structures in Britain [6] . The largest plate is 2.4 m long and about 1.5 m wide [15] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Exmoor National Park Authority. Tarr Steps (eng.) . Exmoor. The appeal date is February 24, 2018.
- ↑ Leete-Hodge Lornie. Curiosities of Somerset. - Bodmin: Bossiney Books, 1985. - P. 63–64. - ISBN 0-906456-98-3 .
- ↑ Tarr steps . Listed Buildings Online . English Heritage . The appeal date is January 2, 2011.
- 2 1 2 Reporter, Telegraph Cheltenham races canceled with more rain forecast in New Year (English) (31 December 2012). The appeal date is February 24, 2018.
- ↑ Ancient bridge is damaged by floodwater . BBC News (21 November 2016). The appeal date is February 24, 2018.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Ian J. Brodie. Visit Somerset: History and Heritage . - Ian J Brodie, 2016. - p. 129. - 244 p. - ISBN 9781526202321 .
- ↑ 1 2 Nick Enoch. Step by step: 3,000-year-old bridge where the devil sunbathed is the rebuilt two-tonne stone slabs after the floods . Mail Online (02/12/2013). The appeal date is February 24, 2018.
- ↑ Damaged Tarr Steps to be rebuilt (English) . BBC News (31 December 2012). The appeal date is February 24, 2018.
- ↑ Ancient bridge is damaged by floodwater . BBC News (21 November 2016). The appeal date is February 24, 2018.
- ↑ Floods at Tarr Steps (inaccessible link) . Exmoor National Park. The appeal date is September 8, 2008. Archived August 7, 2009.
- ↑ Warren, Derrick. Curious Somerset. - Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2005. - P. 66–67. - ISBN 978-0-7509-4057-3 .
- ↑ Somerset's National Nature Reserves - GOV.UK (English) . The appeal date is February 24, 2018.
- ↑ University of Oxford Commonwealth Forestry Institute. Selection of Management of Tarr Steps Woods. - CFI occasional papers. - Department of Forestry, Commonwealth Forestry Institute, University of Oxford, 1978. - p. 60. - 600 p. - ISBN 9780850740608 .
- ↑ Western Barbastelle - Barbastella barbastellus (English) . Encyclopedia of Life . Encyclopedia of Life. The appeal date is February 24, 2018.
- ↑ Otter RA Civil Engineering Heritage: Southern England. - London: Thomas Telford Ltd, 1994. - p. 92. - ISBN 978-0-7277-1971-3 .
Links
- Tarr Steps, River Barle, Withypool And Hawkridge, Somerset . Historic England .
- Tarr Steps . Images of England . Historic England.
- Portal about megaliths .
- Floods at Tarr Steps . Exmoor National Park . - Information on floods Tarr Steps.