• Source: List of crossings of the River Esk, North Yorkshire

This is a list of current bridges and other crossings of the River Esk and are listed from source downstream to the river's mouth. The River Esk rises near Westerdale and is the combination of several small streams known as "Esklets". The river valley has been beset by serious flooding in 1828, 1880, and 1930. Several bridges were lost during the floods of 1930. Most of the railway bridges have numbers, rather than names according to the Engineer's Line Reference.
The river has been crossed by many fords although most are now not in everyday use. Some of these fords are referred to as a "wath", which is from the Old Norse vað meaning ford. Examples of this are at Briggswath, Hellawath (in Glaisdale), and Bluewath Beck (in Egton).




Source to Glaisdale






Egton to Whitby






Other crossings and abandoned bridges



Bow Bridge, was of a similar design to Hunter's Sty and Beggar's Bridge, but was destroyed in 1873 when the newer Bow Bridge was built.
Dick Bridge; 1856 map shows a wooden bridge where Shackleton Bridge is now.
Stepping stones at Walker's Wath.
Ford at Lealholm, upstream of the road bridge. The site now also has stepping stones.
Ford and footbridge at Rake Bridge; the ford used to be part of a track between Whitby and York via Glaisdale. Ford has been used well into the 21st century; a flood swept a car away from Rake's Bridge Ford in 2023.
A bridge would have taken the Cleveland Extension Mineral Railway across the River Esk just to the east of the ford, footbridge and railway bridge at Rake House, but this was never built. The cuttings on approach to either side were dug out, but the scheme failed before major engineering works were undertaken.
A ford is located at Rake Wath (NZ780065).
A wooden trestle bridge (at NZ777055) used to carry a tramway for the ironworks at Glaisdale.
A ford at Glaisdale, to the north of Beggar's Bridge (at NZ784055), was used before the bridge was built.
A set of stepping stones are located east of Egton Bridge, (at NZ806050).
Mapping from 1880, shows Stang Bridge a wooden bridge at NZ814049. Modern mapping shows a smaller bridge, slightly westwards at the point of an old ford.
The ford at Sleights (by the footbridge at the railway station) was granted to Whitby Abbey in the early 13th century. The original road bridge at Sleights which was accessed by a level crossing at the west end of the station was washed away in the flood of 1930. It was replaced by a high-level bridge to the west which spans both the railway and the river, 160 yards (150 m) upstream.
Between 1825 and 1828, a suspension bridge was built to the west of Ruswarp; this acted as a main crossing in the area, before a road bridge was built later by the railway station. Flooding brought down the suspension bridge.
The original Whitby & Pickering Railway viaduct at Ruswarp was made from Baltic pine (imported through the Port of Whitby), and carried two tracks diagonally over the river for 312 feet (95 m).
An "iron road bridge" was built by the railway station at Ruswarp in 1873. It was lost in the flooding of 1930.
A ford existed at Ruswarp where the road bridge is now.
A small packhorse bridge (at NZ092894) is thought to be evidence of a ford across the river from Ruswarp to Larpool Lane. The river was altered to take a sharp meander out of its course when the railway was built in 1836.
A ford at Bog Hall (Whitby) could be crossed at low water. The ford was part of an old track that connected both sides of the river.
A bridge was spanning the harbour in Whitby in 1351, and another was rebuilt in stone in 1746, where the current 1909 swing bridge is.




Notes






References






= Sources

=
Hayes, Raymond H. (1988). Old roads and pannierways in North East Yorkshire. North York Moors National Park. ISBN 0-907480-20-9.
Jervoise, E. (1931). The ancient bridges of the North of England. London: The Architectural Press. OCLC 221808532.
Page, William (1968). The Victoria history of the county of York, North Riding, volume 2. London: Dawsons of Pall Mall for the University of London Institute of Historical Research. ISBN 0712903100.
Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002) [1966]. Yorkshire, the North Riding. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09665-8.
Robinson, R. A. (1991). The story of Danby. Danby: R. A. Robinson. ISBN 0-9518352-0-3.
Whitworth, Alan (1998). Esk Valley Railway: a travellers' guide; a description of the history and topography of the line between Whitby and Middlesbrough. Barnsley: Wharncliffe Books. ISBN 1-8716-4749-5.
Whitworth, Alan (2011). In & around the North York Moors through time. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-0599-9.

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