Dartmeet Clapper Bridge

Burnard describes this photograph as "Restored Cyclopean Bridge, Dartmeet". Cyclopean Bridges are now called Clapper Bridges. Clapper Bridges were built on Dartmoor from about 1400 to carry packhorse trade routes over rivers and streams. The bridges consist of one or more large slabs. When several slabs were required to cross a river then stone piers were built well clear of the water. Hansford Worth writing in his 'Dartmoor' published in 1953 comments that the Dartmeet Clapper Bridge has twice been damaged by flood within memory. Burnard was a leading member of the Dartmoor Preservation Association that was founded in 1882 and rebuilt the Dartmeet Clapper Bridge following flood damage.