Bradstone

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Many thanks to The Royal Inn for facilitating this camera's location and to the Westcountry Rivers Trust for capitally funding its installation. Greystone Bridge was built under an indulgence of 40 days granted to all penitents by Bishop Lacy of Exeter on 27 December 1439. Greystone Bridge and the Horsebridge, also over the Tamar, are thought to have been built by the same person. The patron of the bridge is thought to have been an Abbot of Tavistock. Long vehicles often damaged its parapet and repair work was carried out in November 2007, which also widened its entry approach on the Cornwall end, and traffic signals were replaced. Greystone Bridge is currently protected as a Grade I listed structure and a scheduled ancient monument.The Tamar's source is less than 4 miles from the north Cornish coast, but it flows southward. North of the source the Cornish border heads to the sea along Marsland Water, making Cornwall nearly an island. The east bank of the Tamar was fixed as the border of Cornwall by King Athelstan in the year 936.In a few places the border deviates from the river, leaving, for instance, the Devon village of Bridgerule on the 'Cornish' side. The modern administrative border between Devon and Cornwall more closely follows the Tamar than the historic county border. Several villages north of Launceston which are west of the Tamar were actually in Devon until the 1960s; part of the Rame Peninsula was in Devon until 1844.