Burghley House's Lion Bridge repaired in time for '180,000 to cross'

Work on Burghley House's iconic Lion Bridge has been completed in time for the world-renowned Burghley Horse Trials next month.

The Grade-1 listed historic structure has been a staple in the landscape and courses of past Horse Trials, and those behind the project are relieved to see it finished before 180,000 visitors arrive in September.

The new-look bridge will be an asset for people wishing to cross and to the Burghley Horse Trials itself, but it will also provide the final piece to a picturesque backdrop for any tourists and photo-getters at the event.

David Pennell, CEO of Burghley House's preservation trust, told Greatest Hits it was a "great effort" by everyone involved, and the timing couldn't be better:

'We're about to cross 180,000 people over that bridge so I'm quite relieved it's ready for horse trials.'

'Lion Bridge features quite heavily in our horse trials because we put horses underneath it, so there's a jump in there and we've had riders fall off in the water over the years, so it's critical to our horse trials which is an international event.'

'Getting it complete for the horse trials is of critical function. we have lots of other things going on in the year, the bridge itself is a fundamental part of it.'

'You look under the bridge towards the house, you can stand on the bridge and look towards the house, and when you've got so many people coming for the horse trials it's great to showcase who we are and what we can do.'

To the next 200 years

Part funded by the government’s Culture Recovery Fund, specialist conservation and restoration techniques, expertise, and materials have all been used to ensure the bridge will last well over the next 100 years.

For that reason, those behind the project thought it would be worth including a time capsule in the structure, to leave a little bit of history for the next team of people who come to work on it.

Mr Pennell said: 'We put all the digital plans in that we've used, all the grant applications we've used, some photographs, data from across the estate, the history of how we've got to where we are, some gifts from the Burghley shop to show what people were buying at the time.'

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