Image ID: 41282

Newark Trent Bridge and Newark Castle

Courtesy of Reg Baker

Newark Trent Bridge
Newark on Trent
Nottinghamshire
England

The river level is very low and this photograph may have been taken at a time when The Basin was drained for maintenance purposes. The picture is taken looking southwards, upstream. Work to replace an earlier timber bridge was begun in 1773, the bridge seen here being completed in 1775. The bridge, which is still in use today, is made up of 7 segmental arches (constructed of brick faced with stone) with pilasters over the cutwaters. Its construction coincided with significant changes which were also taking place in connection with the waterway it spanned. Work to improve the navigation past Newark commenced in 1772 (a year before the new bridge was begun) and the two schemes were co-ordinated to the extent that accommodation for the Navigation towpath was incorporated into the bridge scheme by means of a solid causeway, built to pass beneath the appropriate arch on the western (right hand) side of the bridge. Unfortunately, this causeway was found to reduce the width of the stream so much that, in times of heavy flow, the water level rose to such an extent that insufficient headroom was left beneath the bridge: on more that one occasion boats became stuck fast as they attempted to pass through. The problem was not completely solved until the mid-1820s when the solid wall of the towpath causeway was replaced by one with openings which allowed the free flow of current underneath. The final episode in the bridge's development took place in 1848 following a series of complaints about the quality of the road surface on top. In December 1846, for instance, one local newspaper commented that with the increase in traffic heading for the recently opened Castle railway station, the road over the bridge was 'hardly passable, being just at present almost ankle-deep in mud'. Two years later in 1848 perhaps as a result of such complaints, the carriageway was widened and footways added being corbelled out on either side. The graceful iron railings were also added at this time and it is in reference to this renovation that the date 1848 (in Roman numerals) was placed beneath the depictions of the Newark coat of arms emblazoned on each side of the footpath. The work was completed in 1849, endowing the bridge with the general appearance it has kept to this day.

Date: Nov-79

Organisation Reference: NCCE000575

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