The building of bridges was anciently regarded as a charitable and religious act, and guilds and brotherhoods existed for their maintenance and reparation.  At Maidenhead there was a notable bridge, for the sustenance of which the Guild of St. Andrew and St. Mary Magdalene was established by Henry VI in 1452.  An early bridge existed here in the thirteenth century, a grant having been made in 1298 for its repair.  A bridge-master was one of the officials of the corporation, according to the charter granted to the town by James II.  The old bridge was built of wood and supported by piles.  No wonder that people were terrified at the thought of passing over such structures in dark nights and stormy weather.  There was often a bridge-chapel, as on the old Caversham bridge, wherein they said their prayers, and perhaps made their wills, before they ventured to cross.

Some towns owe their existence to the making of bridges.  It was so at Maidenhead.  It was quite a small place, a cluster of cottages, but Camden tells us that after the erection of the bridge the town began to have inns and to be so frequented as to outvie its “neighbouring mother, Bray, a much more ancient place,” where the famous “Vicar” lived.  The old bridge gave place in 1772 to a grand new one with very graceful arches, which was designed by Sir Roland Taylor.

Abingdon, another of our Berkshire towns, has a famous bridge that dates back to the fifteenth century, when it was erected by some good merchants of the town, John Brett and John Huchyns and Geoffrey Barbour, with the aid of Sir Peter Besils of Besselsleigh, who supplied the stone from his quarries.  It is an extremely graceful structure, well worthy of the skill of the medieval builders.  It is some hundreds of yards in length, spanning the Thames and meadows that are often flooded, the main stream being spanned by six arches.  Henry V is credited with its construction, but he only graciously bestowed his royal licence.  In fact these merchants built two bridges, one called Burford Bridge and the other across the ford at Culham.  The name Burford has nothing to do with the beautiful old town which we have already visited, but is a corruption of Borough-ford, the town ford at Abingdon.  Two poets have sung their praises, one in atrocious Latin and the other in quaint, old-fashioned English.  The first poet made a bad shot at the name of the king, calling him Henry IV instead of Henry V, though it is a matter of little importance, as neither monarch had anything to do with founding the structure.  The Latin poet sings, if we may call it singing:—­

        Henricus Quartus quarto fundaverat anno
        Rex pontem Burford super undas atque Culham-ford.

The English poet fixes the date of the bridge, 4 Henry V (1416) and thus tells its story:—­

        King Henry the fyft, in his fourthe yere
        He hath i-founde for his folke a brige in Berkshire
        For cartis with cariage may goo and come clere,
        That many wynters afore were marred in the myre.