South of the village of Witton-le-Wear it was once part of the A68 before that road was diverted and a new crossing built. There are woodlands along the river nearby and a footpath on the north side of the Wear. The bridge is Grade 2 listed and replaced an earlier bridge dating from Medieval times, about 1313, but destroyed in the great flood of 1771, though one arch had previously fallen in 1764. A new bridge lasted only a few years until 1787 when it too was destroyed by floods. The present bridge has only a roadway but provision is made for pedestrians with refugees over the parapets.