Great Bridges: Edisford

Edisford Bridge at Clitheroe is one of the oldest bridges in the county, even eliciting a gothic script label by the Ordnance Survey. It probably comes from Ead’s Ford, Ead or Eada being a Saxon thegn or ealderman who established or guarded an early crossing. Its eastern arches date back to the fourteenth century, but the rounded arches on the west are more recent. The old medieval bridge was widened sometime before the nineteenth century to allow for greater traffic, though it is still narrow by modern standards. In 1926, a steamroller damaged its northern parapet, requiring further repair.

So a battered and frequently-repaired bridge, still bearing its old name and standing on its ancient foundations, but, most importantly, still fulfilling its original function. This is not unlike the church of Christ and the gospel she proclaims. No matter how many times they try to widen in, it is still deemed too narrow. Though tinkered with and expressed in different ways, it is still that same old message first proclaimed in Eden to the first parents, down through the patriarchs and prophets, and from thence the apostles, reformers and puritans.

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 1 Cor 15:1