Devil's Bridge (Kirkby Lonsdale)
Coordinates: 54 ° 11 ′ 54.2 " N , 2 ° 35 ′ 26.4" W.
The Devil's Bridge (German: Teufelsbrücke) in Kirkby Lonsdale , England , is a bridge over the River Lune on the southern edge of the village and a Grade I monument . The stone bridge was built around 1370 and has three arches. The western and middle arches each have a span of 16.69 m and the eastern arch has a span of 8.80 m.
The name of the bridge is based on the legend that a poor woman's cow could not come back across the river. Then the devil appeared in the human form of the woman. He promised to build her a bridge. As a reward he asked for the soul of the first living being that would cross this new bridge. The woman agreed and returned the next morning to the river and found the completed bridge. She was accompanied by her dog, for whom she carried a treat with her. The woman threw this delicacy over the bridge, over which her dog then ran and was the first living being to cross the bridge.
In his annoyance, the devil jumped off the bridge, under which there is a large perforated stone known as the stone from the Devil's Neck Collar. In the vicinity of Kirkby Lonsdale there are also several large stones, such as the Great Stone of Fourstones , which the devil is said to have lost from his wallet when he brought the stones for the bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Devil's Bridge at Kirkby on DL Ashliman, Folklore and Mytholgy Electronic Texts
- ↑ Jessica Lofthouse, North-country folklore in Lancashire, Cumbria and the Pennine Dales , Robert Hale, 1976. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-7091-5345-0