Preserving our heritage: repairs to Swan Bridge in Oxford

Swan Bridge carries Paradise Street over Castle Mill Stream, a backwater of the River Thames adjacent to the 1,000-year-old Oxford Castle.

Named after swans that were bred in the area, the bridge features two stone arches and a cutwater on the north side. Its exact construction date is unknown, but is believed to be from the early 19^th century. It was rebuilt in 1895 and Grade II listed in 1972.

Greenford were commissioned as contractors for the project known as “Swan Bridge Parapet Replacement” on behalf of M Group, working for Oxfordshire County Council. We repaired stonework, replaced parapets, and replaced the cast-iron railings on the bridge to restore and preserve its historic and structural integrity.

Simon Rogers, Site Manager, said:

We carried out the works on this historic, busy, city-centre bridge to replace the damaged metal railings with new bespoke steel railings, which were fabricated in-house and galvanised and painted in the original colour of Oxford blue.

Traffic management was required to provide a safe working area for our operatives. To minimise the disruption for pedestrians and vehicles, we first surveyed the bridge to allow for the railings to be manufactured off-site at Greenford workshops before the traffic management was installed.

Stonework repairs including replacement of some of the missing copings were carried out at the same time.

Our total time on-site was under 3 weeks.

Repairing the failed stonework and copings in lime mortar

A close-up of the new railings on Swan Bridge

Traffic and pedestrian management at Swan Bridge

Removing the old, damaged parapet railings and replacing them with bespoke new railings

Relaying the historic brick paving at Swan Bridge

Oxford Preservation Trust 2025 Awards - Highly Commended Public Realm

Our work at Swan Bridge was recognised at the Oxford Preservation Trust awards in November 2025, with a “Highly Commended” accolade in the Public Realm category.

Projects such as this – an historic, waterside restoration scheme – are among our specialities, and we are grateful for the recognition of our work by the Oxford Preservation Trust.