At yesterday’s meeting of the Northamptonshire County Council a prominent position was given to the question of widening the bridge over the River Nene at Irthlingborough.  The Roads and Bridges Committee sent in a recommendation to the County Council to widen the approaches of the bridge on the south-west side, and to construct a footpath on cantilevers or brackets on the bridge itself, at a total estimated cost of £3,000 in accordance with plans prepared by the county surveyor, provided that the district contribute one-quarter of the sum actually expended.  They further recommended that a loan be raised for the work, to be repaid within thirty years.  The Finance Committee concurred in the suggestions.  An interesting report, devoted entirely to Irthlingborough bridge, was received from the Ancient Monuments and County Records Committee.  They state that the bridge consists of eighteen arches, of which nine may be said to constitute the bridge itself, while of the remaining nine, five on the one side and four on the other, are constructed under the approaches.  All these arches, except one, are of stone, and date from mediæval times, but in order to widen the bridge at a comparatively recent period (perhaps 100 years ago), brick arches have been added at the side.  The usual length of the bridge and the approaches, and the excellent state of its ancient stone arches, are undoubtedly one of the most interesting in the county, and there are few bridges left anywhere in England of greater importance from the historical and antiquarian point of view.  Some of the arches still retain the original groining ribs, others have lost them; from this and other indications it is evident that, from time to time, repairs were carried out in mediæval days, and the bridge carried on its face a most interesting history.  At some comparatively recent date, the bridge was widened from its original width of about 12 feet to about 16 feet; but the old stone structure was left as far as might be in its original form, and the widening was accomplished by adding brick arches at the side of the old ones.  The small width of these new arches enabled them to be carried on the old stone cut-waters.  The important point is that the old work and the new are perfectly distinct, although blended by time into a harmonious whole; and the history of the bridge can be read on its face by those interested in such matters.  One of the ancient stone arches has been replaced by a brick arch of rather wider span, but this is the only interruption of the ancient series.  The lay-bys or triangular recesses on the top of the cut-waters have been preserved on the north-east or lower side, but on the south-west or upper side – on which the widening was chiefly effected – they were necessarily abolished when the parapet was rebuilt.  On the cut-water in the centre of the main stream is a stone panel carved with the cross keys of St. Peter.  This perhaps originally indicated that the apex of the cut-water in mid-stream was the boundary between the parish of Irthlingborough – of which the church is dedicated to St. Peter – and that of Chelveston-cum-Caldecote, where the church is dedicated to St. John Baptist; but the second stone, if there ever was one, with its carved panel is not to be seen.  Two somewhat similar panels still exist on Ditchford bridge, some two miles higher up the river.  The Ancient Monuments and County Records Committee approved of the alterations proposed by the Roads and Bridges Committee as a temporary expedient, but considering that the completion of the work by widening the centre portion will probably have to be undertaken at no distant date, they recommended that as far as possible the earlier plan should be adhered to, and that the walls of the approaches and the arches therein should be built of stone, and so arranged as clearly to define the new work from the old.  The Irthlingborough Urban Council has offered to pay one-fourth of the cost of the improvements, provided the bridge is widened on both sides, but the Ancient Monuments Committee could not agree with this suggestion.  It appeared to them most important that the alterations to the bridge should be entirely confined to the upperside which has already been widened.  By this means it will be possible to preserve, on one side at least, all of the most important features of this ancient structure, and at the same time to provide for modern requirements, and the safety and convenience of the public.  Their chief question yesterday was whether Irthlingborough should bear its share of the expense.  Mr. Payne, the representative of Irthlingborough, said the town would not think of raising £750 as a contribution towards widening the bridge, and Mr. William Jackson, who said he had never been able to defend the principle of calling upon a district to defray part of the cost of widening a county bridge, moved that the clause of the report calling upon Irthlingborough to contribute quarter of the cost to be struck out.  This, unfortunately for Irthlingborough, was defeated by sixty votes to four, and the recommendations of the committee were carried.