Originally there were no bridges, and the streams and rivers were crossed by fords and ferries. The danger of crossing in floods, or at night, and the inconvenience of waiting for the ferry led to the building of bridges. At first a crossing was by stepping stones, then a footbridge at the side of a ford, the horseman or cart still using the ford; then over the most-used crossings a wooden bridge wide enough to take a cart was built. In the 14th and 15th centuries the most important of the wooden bridges were replaced y a stone bridge
