Coombs Covered Bridge


The Coombs Covered Bridge is a wooden covered bridge which carries Coombs Bridge Road over the Ashuelot River in northern Winchester, New Hampshire. It was built in 1837, and is one of the state's small number of surviving 19th-century covered bridges. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Description and history

The Coombs Covered Bridge is located roughly midway between the village centers of Winchester and Swanzey, carrying Coombs Bridge Road across the Ashuelot River between New Hampshire Route 10 and Old Swanzey Road. The bridge consists of a single span long and wide, with a span of just under. It rests on unmortared stone abutments, and has a clearance over the river of about. Its Town lattice trusses are sheathed in vertical board siding, and it is covered by a metal gabled roof. The end portals have segmented-arch openings, and there are banded openings on the side walls to admit light.
The bridge was built in 1837, less than twenty years after Ithiel Town patented the truss type used in it. It was probably built by either Anthony Coombs or Anthony Coombs, Jr., who lived nearby. The bridge was extensively renovated in 1969, and again in 1997.