Bullen's bridge also known as Union canal bridge, Sheppards bridge or Station road bridge was a steel flat road bridge with trellis side rails and was built in 1853 by Brotherhood of Chippenham for the Swindon Corporation.
The Devizes & Wiltshire Gazette reported in July 1853 that “An iron bridge has been erected by the Great Western Railway Company, over the Wilts and Berks Canal, by which means communication is opened from New Swindon and parts adjacent, direct to the Railway station. The bridge presents a very neat appearance, and is the model one which was placed in the Great Exhibition of 1851, having been manufactured by Mr. Brotherhood.”
This bridge was demolished in 1923.
Adjacent to the bridge was the Union Railway Inn, later called the Union Hotel and then the Union Tavern, it was built in 1840 by John Sheppard who owned much of the surrounding land.
Richard Bullen managed the beerhouse between 1873-80, he was a larger than life character who ended up having a bridge named after him.
