Lancelot 'Capability' Brown designed the Five Arch Bridge and serpentine lake at North Cray Place, now part of Foots Cray Meadows, for Thomas Coventry.

One of Brown’s major achievements at North Cray was the reshaping of the River Cray to create a ribbon-like lake. He designed the Five Arch Bridge, which was mainly brick and included a weir on its north side. Other Brown bridges at Temple Newsam, Yorkshire and Compton Verney, Warwickshire, were built in stone and more elegant in their design. It is thought that Coventry, who was described by writer and essayist Charles Lamb as “a hoarder rather than a miser”, was keeping a close eye on the budget here.

 

Brown would have needed all his skills and experience in earth-moving and drainage at North Cray. The Cray is a chalk river with wide, shallow sections of gravel. To create a watertight lining Brown probably used a mixture of wet clay and sand or puddling clay. He may also have been dealing with low water levels here as a result of work at the Foots Cray estate, on the other side of the river. The bridge, weir and two islands gave the lake an unusual 'neck', which looked elegant and maintained the water level.

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