Trickster
The Bradford Gudgeon
Below the fish, above the water.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Domed lock-up on medieval bridge
- Legend from
- Town nickname
- Tone
- Humorous
Locked up for the night: below the fish, above the water.
On Bradford on Avon's medieval Town Bridge stands a small domed building that was once the town's two-cell lock-up. On top is a weather vane shaped like a fish, the Bradford Gudgeon, though it looks little like a real gudgeon. Anyone locked inside was said to be below the fish and above the water. Because of the golden fish, people born and bred in the town call themselves Gudgeons. John Aubrey wrote about the building in the 1660s. The bridge still carries traffic over the Avon.