Image ID: 08180

The wooden 'Haling' bridge over the River Trent at Newark

Courtesy of Antoine

River Trent
Newark on Trent
England

The so-called wooden 'Haling' bridge was built as a continuation of the towpath across the navigable River Trent. Its name derived from the Middle English word 'halen', which meant to pull, drag, or haul, all of which indicates its one time use, which was to allow horses to pull boats through this section of river. It was dismantled in 1951 when the new 'Town Lock' was excavated, and rebuilt afterwards, but not in the form seen here. (However, Whites Directory of 1853 says that the 'Haling' path bridge was the one 'which crosses the Devon near the large water mill, consists of 5 segmental arches, each 14 feet span, and was built in 1819 by the Newark Navigation Company who, in 1772, obtained an Act of Parliament for widening and improving the stream, which by a circuitous course of four miles, now brings the Trent navigation past the walls of Newark. Anciently three narrow and inconvenient wooden bridges occupied the sites of these durable structures of brick and stone.') This picture is looking north and also shows Newark Castle and the Quibell Brothers warehouse (animal fertilisers) on the left, and the Swan and Salmon PH on the right.

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KeywordswoodenHalingbridgewarehousesbrickboysrivertrentcastlewaterwaynavigationcanaltowpathAntoine

Newark Library