Monks Bridge is a road bridge across the River Dove between Stretton, Staffordshire, and Egginton, Derbyshire. A bridge has existed here since the early 13th century, though much of the current structure dates to the 15th century. It formerly carried traffic on what is now the

A38 road The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, Bristol, Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England. The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, mak ...

but a replacement structure was built to the north in 1926. It was formerly used as a slip road but is now out of use to vehicular traffic.

Description

The bridge spans the River Dove and provides a crossing between the parishes of Stretton, Staffordshire and Egginton, Derbyshire. It is a stone bridge with four arches, founded in the river on

cutwater A cutwater is the forward part of the prow or stem of a watercraft around the waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. A waterline can also refer to any line on a ship's hull that is paralle ...

s, and with triangular bastions (outwards projections of the deck and parapet) at the piers. Each arch spans approximately and the bridge is around wide. The arches, except for the westernmost, are

ribbed ''Ribbed'' is the third studio album by the American punk rock band NOFX, released in 1991 through Epitaph Records. It was their last album to feature Steve Kidwiler on guitar; he was replaced by El Hefe. ''Ribbed'' is also the last NOFX album ...

. The piers are founded on spread foundations supplemented with timber piles. The arch

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame, between the tops of two adjacent arches, or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...

s are supported by tie rods with

anchor plate An anchor plate, floor plate or wall washer is a large plate or washer (hardware), washer connected to a tie rod or Screw, bolt. Anchor plates are used on exterior walls of masonry buildings, for structural reinforcement against lateral bowing. ...

s. Much of the current fabric of the bridge is 15th-century and it is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

(it is separately scheduled in both Derbyshire and Staffordshire). In normal conditions the river does not flow through the eastern-most arch, which has a concrete invert. The parapets are of masonry and in some locations there is a narrow pedestrian verge on the bridge deck.

Current usage

The bridge was formerly used as a slip road with access to and from the southbound carriageway of the

. It was signposted as a weak bridge with a maximum

gross vehicle weight Vehicle weight is a measurement of wheeled motor vehicles; either an actual measured weight of the vehicle under defined conditions or a gross weight rating for its weight carrying capacity. Curb or kerb weight Curb weight (American English) or k ...

. As of 2014 the bridge was taken out of vehicular use and associated

traffic barrier Traffic barriers (known in North America as guardrails or guard rails, in Britain as crash barriers, and in auto racing as Armco barriers AK Steel (formerly Armco) genericized trademark) keep vehicles within their roadway and prevent them from co ...

s have been removed. It is in the ownership of

National Highways National Highways (NH), formerly Highways England and before that the Highways Agency, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in Eng ...

History

Ecclesiastical ownership

A bridge existed at this site by the early 13th century, when it was known as the Egginton Bridge. An earlier structure may have existed at this site to carry the Roman

Icknield Street Icknield Street or Ryknild Street is a Roman road in England, with a route roughly south-west to north-east. It runs from the Fosse Way at Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire () to Templeborough in South Yorkshire (). It passes through ...

across the river. In 1225 the abbot of

Burton Abbey Burton Abbey at Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire, England, was founded in the 7th or 9th century by St Modwen or Modwenna. It was refounded in 1003 as a Benedictine abbey by the thegn Wulfric Spott. He was known to have been buried in the abb ...

, John of Stretton, considered it was the responsibility of the abbey to maintain the bridge and paid for it to be rebuilt. However in 1256 an inquest found that liability for the repair of the bridge lay instead with the local residents. The wide span of the current arches suggests that they post-date the 1225 rebuilding. The structure was known as Monk Bridge by 1394 when permission was granted by

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

for a chaplain to erect a chapel on the bridge and collect

alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving. Etymology The word ''alms'' come ...

for its maintenance. In 1398 a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

dedicated to

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

was erected, apparently in honour of the recently deceased queen (

Anne of Bohemia Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1366 – 7 June 1394), also known as Anne of Luxembourg, was Queen consort of England, Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the daughter of Charles IV, Holy ...

Public ownership

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, including abbeys, (1536–41) and abolition of chantries (1545–47) the local community became unambiguously responsible for maintenance. By the middle of the century the burden fell, at least partly, upon Egginton Parish who, in 1548, sold two church bells to finance repairs. By the late 17th century the counties of Staffordshire and Derbyshire had accepted joint liability for maintenance and a widening of the structure, on the north side, was carried out in 1775. By the late 19th century, with the rise of motorised transport,

Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Derby. The county council is ba ...

became concerned about the risk of a collapse from overloading. On 1 December 1899 John Peake was fined £1 for driving a

traction engine A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any ...

over Monk's Bridge, "in spite of a copy of the bye-law—which prohibits the use of the bridge for locomotives—being conspicuously posted on the bridge". In his defence, Peake and his employer, Messrs. Aveling, made the point that a "Pickford's heavy dray would bring three times more weight per inch to bear on the bridge than a 15-ton steam roller", but the court rejected the argument.

Modern period

In 1924, as part of a project to realign the A38,

requested bids for a wide ferroconcrete replacement road bridge north of the Monks Bridge, on land purchased from

Edward Every Edward Francis Every (13 April 1862 – 16 January 1941) was an Anglican priest and author: a Missionary Bishop, in South America for a 35-year period during the first half of the twentieth century. Biography He was the second son of Sir Henry ...

for £50 an acre. They accepted a tender of £30,862 from the firm of G.F. Tomlinson. Construction of the new bridge was complete by 1926. Permission was granted for repairs to be made to the structure in April 2004.

References

{{Reflist Bridges in Derbyshire Bridges in Staffordshire Road bridges in England Arch bridges in the United Kingdom Scheduled monuments in Derbyshire Scheduled monuments in Staffordshire