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Greta Bridge
Greta Bridge is a village in the south of County Durham, located about 3 miles south-east of Barnard Castle. The village has been an historic crossing place of the River Greta since Roman times; its stone bridge was built in 1773 near the site of a much ealier bridge. Greta Bridge was on the old mail coach from London to Carlisle and at one time there were 3 coaching inns - the Morritt Arms and the Coach House are still there today. Charles Dickens stayed in Greta Bridge and mentioned it in his novel Nicholas Nickleby.
Greta Bridge is a village on the River Greta in County Durham, England.
Geography and administration
Greta Bridge lies in the Pennine hills near to Barnard Castle. The bridge (now bypassed by the A66 trunk road) is over the River Greta just south of its confluence with the River Tees.
Greta Bridge lies within the historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, but along with the rest of the former Startforth Rural District, Greta Bridge was transferred to County Durham for administrative and ceremonial purposes on 1 April 1974 pursuant to the Local Government Act 1972.
Etymology
The village is named after the river and is Norse in derivation, from grót + á meaning "stony stream".
History
A Roman fort and associated vicus (ancient name unknown) were located here, next to the major Roman road that became the modern A66.
Greta Bridge is mentioned in Charles Dickens's novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby as the site of Dotheboys School. Dickens mentions the "George and New Inn, Greta Bridge". This is thought to be a conflation of two coaching inns in or near Greta Bridge.
The link here is the publican "George Martin", who first of all ran the inn called the "George and Dragon" to the West of the River Greta, he then moved to the original "Morritt's Arms" built on the East bank of the River Greta as a coaching inn by the Morritt family of Rokeby, in approx. 1756, and he renamed it "The George" as recorded by Dickens (maybe having left his "dragon" behind at the present Morritt Arms!). Later, Martin moved to be landlord of The New Inn a mile to the east of Greta Bridge and renamed that "The George and New Inn". Source: Peter Gilbertson of The Coach House, Greta Bridge.
The famous painting the Rokeby Venus by Diego Velázquez was originally housed at Rokeby Park, near Greta Bridge. It is now in the National Gallery in London.
1 mile north is Mortham Tower, a fortified manor house dating from the 14th century, with a 15th-century tower.
Visit the page: Greta Bridge for references and further details. You can contribute to this article on Wikipedia.
from http://commons.wikimedia.org/…
Greta Bridge, John Sell Cotman, c. 1806
Added by
Simon Cotterill
Co-Curate Page
Charles Dickens and the North East
- Overview About Charles Dickens Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian era and his works remain widely read. As a writer, performer, and social critic …
Co-Curate Page
Rokeby
- Today Rokeby is a civil parish near Barnard Castle, County Durham, in Teesdale, close to the boundary with North Yorkshire. The A66, one of the main roads across the north Pennines, …
from http://commons.wikimedia.org/…
Greta Bridge, John Sell Cotman, c. 1806
Added by
Simon Cotterill
Co-Curate Page
Charles Dickens and the North East
- Overview About Charles Dickens Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian era and his works remain widely read. As a writer, performer, and social critic …
Co-Curate Page
Rokeby
- Today Rokeby is a civil parish near Barnard Castle, County Durham, in Teesdale, close to the boundary with North Yorkshire. The A66, one of the main roads across the north Pennines, …
