Swarkestone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swarkestone is a village in Derbyshire, England.
Swarkestone has a very old village church, a full cricket pitch, the Crewe and Harpur pub, a canal with locks, moorings and a canalside tea-rooms.
The ancient bridge at Swarkestone crosses the River Trent about six miles south of Derby and was for about three hundred years the Midlands main crossing of the Trent. The bridge is in total just under a mile long and has seventeen arches. It was built in the thirteenth century to cross the river and its surrounding marshes. It is the longest stone bridge in England and holds Grade I listed building status.
Unfortunately the bridge is rather undersized for modern traffic, and is scarcely two-lane for cars at several points. Though there is a weight limit of 7.5 tonnes, the walls of the bridge often take damage from traffic. At the southern side of the bridge is Stanton-by-bridge.
In the Battle of Swarkestone bridge during the English Civil War (1643) it was defended by the Royalists against the Parliamentarians, but the outnumbered Cavaliers lost the day.
In 1745 during the Jacobite Rebellion Bonnie Prince Charlie the advance party of his army halted here and, finding no reports of support from the South, turned back to Derby. The main army retreated to Scotland and final defeat at Culloden making this the most southerly point reached during his army's advance towards London.
Nearby is the Jacobean Grandstand and walled area, formerly connected with Harpur hall, where they used to bait bulls.
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The chain ferry at Twyford was the next crossing north of the Swarkestone Bridge.
