Garret Hostel Bridge

Garret Hostel Bridge is named after the Garret Hostel that once stood nearby during the Middle Ages.

The current bridge is the 6th rendition to stand on the site. The original construction of the bridge dates back to the 15th-century and the days of Henry VI. The current structure was designed around 1960 by Timothy Guy Morgan, then an undergraduate at the School of Architecture. However, Morgan did not live to see the bridge completed.

The Garret Hostel Bridge is considered one of the first post-tensioned concrete bridges in the United Kingdom, where concrete is set around pre-stressed steel cables. Its modern look stands in stark contrast to the adjacent Clare College Bridge, the only bridge to survive beyond the 17th-century English Civil War.

The bridge is also one of three public bridges, the other two are Silver Street Bridge and Magdalene Bridge, that link the city center to The Backs. It also offers sweeping views of the landscape around King’s, Trinity, and St. John’s Colleges, along with Trinity Hall.

The bridge is a popular haunt among tourists and cyclists, which has become a sort of a hazard as of late.