Description:A red sandstone bridge of 4 arches over the River Tame, with refuges on the cutwaters on both sides. Considerably repaired. It has 4 semicircular arches. The bridge is probably the one built by order of the Staffordshire Quarter Sessions, held in 1709, to take the place of a `Wood horse bridge'.
The bridge lies on the line of A453, a heavily used commuter route to Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield. A new wide bridge was built immediately alongside to the East of the old one in 1931-32. Perry Bridge is now restricted to pedestrians. It crosses the River Tame with a span of about 50' (15m) with a further flood meadow (long since built up) embankment of about 160'
(48m). The bridge is about 15' wide (4m) and approach 21' (6m) wide. The 4 flood arches have been blocked off and 4 tie bars inserted. There are factories and offices and deports on all 4 sides and the R Tame has been cleaned and straightened. The bridge
has parapets each side, about 3' (0.914m) high. The roadway crossing the bridge is tarmac with no footpath. There are 4 round arches each with 2 tie bars. The middle arches take the main flow, there are 3 V-shaped cut waters rising to full height of parapet to give refuges. Although generally sound some stones have been moved out 0.5-1 in places and some remonitoring may become necessary. There has been a bridge here since Roman times, as this was the exact spot where Ryknild Street crossed the River Tame. The present bridge dates from the early part of the 18th Century and consists of 6 unevenly-sized arches, constructed in a pack horse style.
The accompanying image is a hand-coloured postcard in the collection of the Local Studies Department of Central Library.