Littlehempston is a ‘watery’ parish, with the confluence of the River Hems and the Gatcombe Brook at its heart. The Hems flows into the Dart at Snipe Island, the southern tip of the parish, and is tidal up to the village centre.
The main Paddington to Penzance railway line was built through the parish in 1848, and subsequently made double track. The Hems is crossed by several bridges along the valley, and a large embankment carries the line over the village centre. All this means that the river is bottled up when in spate, and the flood problem in the village was certainly made worse after the building of the railway.
There are four Grade II listed bridges in the parish:
1. Gatcombe Bridge, the viaduct over the Gatcombe Brook near the Pig and Whistle. List Entry Number: 1146830. National Grid Reference: SX8179362572. Grade II listed.
‘Road viaduct over valley of Gatcombe Brook, circa early to mid 19th century. Solid stone rubble wall pierced by widely spaced tall round arches of dressed stone with buttresses with set-offs between the arches. Parapets with stone rubble saddle-back capping, terminating in squat piers. The turnpike is shown on Benjamin Donn’s 1765 map of Devon, but this bridge is a 19th century replacement.’
2. Bridge in village centre. List Entry Number: 1324884. National Grid Reference: SX8132962745. Grade II listed.
‘Road bridge over River Hems. Circa 18th century. Stone rubble. Small bridge with two spans with segmental arches and cutwaters between on upstream side with refuge in parapet above. No parapet coping.’
3. Railway viaduct over River Hems. List Entry Number: 1108515. National Grid Reference: SX8135662751. Grade II listed.
‘Railway viaduct over River Hems. Circa 1847. Stone rubble. Three spans with elliptical pink sandstone arches on slight skew. Sandstone stringcourse above and parapet with plain stone coping. 20th century iron girder bridge on stone piers alongside to east is not included. The South Devon Railway was authorised in 1844. This section from Newton Abbot to Totnes was opened in 1847 and pipes were laid for atmospheric trains which were never used. The Great Western Railway took over in 1876 and the South Devon Railway Company was dissolved in 1878 . The broad gauge was replaced in 1882.’
4. The ‘Triangle Bridge,’ aka Silver Head Bridge. List Entry Number: 1324885. National Grid Reference: SX8145862696. Grade II listed.
‘Small road bridge over Gatcombe Brook. Circa 18th century. Stone rubble. Single span with segmental arch. Hump-back bridge with parapets and curved abutments.’
