The east abutment at Chesters was part of a large road bridge built in about AD 160 to carry the Military Way (the road accompanying Hadrian’s Wall) over the river North Tyne. The abutment, from which the easternmost arch sprang, incorporates the pier of an earlier and much smaller bridge which was part of the original construction of Hadrian’s Wall. The later bridge continued in use until the end of the Roman period and was demolished in the AD 670s to provide building materials for St Wilfrid’s church at Hexham.
The remains of the two successive Roman bridges at Chesters encapsulate some of the main developments in the history of Hadrian’s Wall.