Swarkestone Bridge, River Trent
About this image
The part of the bridge that can be seen here is the 414ft classically designed bridge with 5 round head arches by Thomas Harrison. It replaced an earlier bridge, the remains of the rubble from this can still be seen affecting the water flow below the present bridge. The rest of the bridge was built in the 13th century and about a mile long, Swarkestone bridge has 17 arches only a few of which actually cross the River Trent, the rest passing over the low lying flood meadows of the river. The story goes that it was built by 2 sisters who saw their lovers drown whilst trying to cross the flooded meadows. At the northern end of the bridge are the remains of a chapel. It was from this bridge that Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebel army turned back from their march on London. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. To the left of the bridge is The 'Crewe and Harpur' Pub, named after the local landed family from Calke Abbey. Sir John Harpur lived at a huge mansion at Swarkeston before he developed and re-located to Calke.