King John's Bridge brushed metal plaque

This brushed metal commemorative plaque records: King John's Bridge. "King John beyng Erle of Glocester by his wife caussid the bridge of Twekesbyri to be made of stone. He that was put in truste to do it first made a stone bridge over the grete poure of booth the armes by north and weste: and after to spede and spare mony he made at the northe ende a woode bridge of a greate lenght for sodeyne lande waters, putting the residew of the mony to making of the castel of Hanley on the inheritance of the Erledom of Glocester" (John Leland's Itinerary edit 1769) These bridges suffered repeatedly from flooding and the 17th and 18th centuries saw many disputes between borough and county as to the liability for repair. Remedial works in 1747, 1783 and 1810 culminated in 1824 when the causeway which had replaced the long bridge was widened and raised. Both this and the stone bridges remained almost unchanged until the general reconstruction completed in 1962.

King John's Bridge, originally commissioned by King John when he was Earl of Gloucester, marks an important early example of medieval bridge construction; its history is intertwined with centuries of local disputes over maintenance and repeated renovations due to flooding.