Postbridge Clapper Bridge

The hamlet of Postbridge on Dartmoor set beside the East Dart River is known for its ancient clapper bridge. Records show that it existed by 1380 and that it was built to enable packhorses and carts to ford the river on the way to the stannary town of Tavistock. The granite stone outcrops known as tors on Dartmoor provided the slabs called posts and this is how Postbridge has its name. The village is a popular visitor attraction.

Most clapper bridges in England and Wales were erected in medieval times and the word clapper comes from the Anglo Saxon cleaca and means bridging the stepping-stones. Records show that repair work was carried out in 1879 and more recent repairs were carried out in 1970 when one of the central piers was leaning out of alignment leaving the heavy granite slabs resting on a section of just one and a half inches or nearly four centimetres! Both central piers were rebuilt fixing the original stones together with epoxy resin cement. In 1979 the Dartmoor National Park Authority bolstered the riverbanks beside the bridge and installed steps. Stannary towns were administrative centres related to tin mining.