Mathematical Bridge
The Mathematical Bridge is the wooden footbridge across the Cam at Queens' College, first built in 1749 from straight timbers arranged to form an arch, and the subject of a famous myth about Isaac Newton. Queens' itself simply calls it the Wooden Bridge.
In practice
The bridge was designed by William Etheridge and built by James Essex. It has been rebuilt twice since, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to the same design, now with visible bolts. The popular story says Newton built it without nails or bolts, and that students who took it apart could not put it back together. The story is false: Newton died in 1727, more than twenty years before the bridge was built.
Why it matters to newcomers
Every punt tour passes under the Mathematical Bridge, and the best free view is from the Silver Street bridge next to it. To cross it you need to visit Queens' College during its opening hours, usually with a ticket.
Related
- Punt - the best way to see it from below
- The Backs - the riverside stretch it belongs to
- College visiting - how to get into Queens'
Source: Queens' College.