The Union Chain Bridge majestically spans the River Tweed connecting the parishes of Horncliffe in England, and Hutton in Scotland. Designed by an entrepreneurial naval officer, Captain Samuel Brown, 200 years ago, the Category A/Grade I Listed Union Chain Bridge was the first chain suspension bridge in Europe to carry wheeled traffic and remains the oldest still in use worldwide.

The manufacturing and engineering techniques employed on the Bridge were hugely influential in the global development of suspension bridges. Sitting four miles upstream from Berwick-upon-Tweed, the structure remains very much as it was when it was first completed. It contains the earliest and only remaining examples of Samuel Brown’s patented eye-bar wrought iron chains. The Scottish pylon is also the oldest standing road suspension bridge masonry pylon in the world.

Delve deeper into the history and heritage connected to Union Chain Bridge by visiting the Bridge Story section of the project website www.unionchainbridge.org/bridge-story/