Packhorse bridge
![Essex Bridge, a packhorse bridge across the River Trent](/Images/godic/202502/01/The_bridge_at_the_back_of_Shugborough_Hall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_823243913.jpg")
![Medieval packhorse bridge crossing the Almofrei at Cotobade, Galicia](/Images/godic/202502/01/PAlmofrei3913.jpg")
A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the horse's panniers. Multi-arched examples sometimes have triangular cutwaters that are extended upwards to form pedestrian refuges.