Ever heard of a bridge named after royalty? Here at Kingsbridge in Kingsbridge, England, we stand before a structure steeped in history. It is a story not just of stone and water but of markets, manors, and monastic holdings.
This town formed around the bridge. It was built in or before the 10th century. Back then, it linked the royal estates of Alvington and Chillington. That’s how it got its regal name: Kyngysbrygge, or King’s bridge.
In 1219, the Abbot of Buckfast gained the right to hold a market here. By 1238, Kingsbridge had grown into a borough. The abbot held onto the manor until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Then, Sir William Petre received it.
Kingsbridge never had its own representation in Parliament. It also never incorporated by charter. A portreeve handled the local government. Kingsbridge sits within the hundred of Stanborough.
Actually, Kingsbridge is a combination of two towns: Kingsbridge and Dodbrooke. Dodbrooke got its own market in 1257. By 1319, it too was a borough. Initially, Dodbrooke seemed more dominant. However, Kingsbridge expanded and eventually included it.
The town comprises two ecclesiastical parishes. You have St Edmund’s in the west and St Thomas Becket at Dodbrooke in the east. St Edmund’s Church features a mainly Perpendicular style. It still has some 13th-century elements like a font. It underwent enlargement and reconsecration around 1414. Most of it saw rebuilding in the 19th century. St Thomas Becket’s parish church boasts a well-preserved rood screen. Restorations occurred in 1897.
In 1798, the town mills transformed into a woollen manufactory. It produced lots of cloth. Serge manufacture arrived in the early 19th century. The town saw an active coastal shipping trade, shipbuilding, a tannery, other industries, and a large monthly cattle market during the 19th century. Cider, corn, malt, and slate were the main exports.
Anthony Trollope chose Kingsbridge as the setting for his novel Rachel Ray. Rachel Joyce also set her 2012 novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry here. In October 2021, filming began in Kingsbridge for the movie version of that book. Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton starred. The film was released in April 2023.
The town centre still has many 18th and 19th-century buildings. The Shambles, or market arcade, rebuilt in 1796, still uses its 16th-century granite piers. Thomas Crispin founded and built the former grammar school in 1670. Today, it is a museum.
For centuries, Kingsbridge has been the area’s main market town. Its location in the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty helps too. Proximity to the south Devon coast and sailing spots like Salcombe boost tourism. Kingsbridge offers restaurants, pubs, a cinema in the old Kingsbridge Town Hall, and a museum about William Cookworthy. He was a chemist born here in 1705.
The song “Farewell to Kingsbridge” has cultural ties here. Sabine Baring-Gould collected it at Lydford, Devon. It recalls the years 1778–80, when soldiers left for North America.
As you stand on Kingsbridge, think about the flow of history beneath your feet. From royal estates to bustling markets to woollen mills, this bridge has seen it all. It links not just land, but also the past to the present.