Greta Bridge

Greta Bridge
Greta Bridge, John Sell Cotman, c. 1806
Greta Bridge Location within County Durham
OS grid reference	NZ086131
Unitary authority	County Durham
Ceremonial county	Durham
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Durham
Fire	County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance	North East
UK Parliament	Bishop Auckland

Greta Bridge is a hamlet on the River Greta in the parishes of Rokeby and Brignall in County Durham, England. The bridge (now bypassed by the A66 trunk road) is over the River Greta, just south of its confluence with the River Tees. The North Pennines, Teesdale and the Greta Bridge area – including the Meeting of the Waters – became a source of inspiration for romantic artists, poets and writers during the eighteenth century.

Name

The name derives from the River Greta, recorded earlier as Gretha (1279) and Gretay (1341).

The etymology is a hybrid of Old Norse and Old English. The Old Norse grjót means "coarse stones" or "rubble". The Old English ēa means "river", "running water" or "stream".

Governance

See also: Barnard Castle § Governance

Greta Bridge is part of County Durham district and is governed by Durham County Council. The neighbouring village of Newsham – to the south-east – is part of North Yorkshire district.

Historically, Greta Bridge was in 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 in 1974.

Geography

The village lies on the eastern flanks of the North Pennines – about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of the North Pennines area of outstanding natural beauty. The nearest town – Barnard Castle – is the market town for Teesdale.

The village is divided between Rokeby parish and Brignall parish – by the river Greta.

Roman road (Watling Street)

See also: Roman roads in Britannia

Greta Bridge is on the route of the trans-Pennine (Stainmore) section of Watling Street (North) Roman road – now largely followed by the A66 trunk road. Archaeological excavations during the 1970's found part of the original road.

Roman fort (Maglona)

See also: Roman Britain and Romano-British culture

Maglona ramparts.

Overview

An inscription found near the north gate suggests that the castrum (fort) was built during the early third century AD, although it is possible that a fort existed on the site as early as the first century AD. The castrum was built to protect the Watling Street crossing of the River Greta – river crossings were particularly vulnerable to attack from the local Brigantes or from other local tribes.

Many of the legions and auxiliaries who were stationed in North Britain during the Roman occupation originated from Roman Gaul (France) and Hispania (Spain). The name Tutta (from Tutta Beck) may derive from the Gaulish deity Toutatis (or Tūtatus) – god of the tribe.

Tutta Beck

The Tutta Beck–Greta confluence and the Greta–Tees confluence are both in close proximity to Maglona Roman fort. River confluences had a special significance for the Gaulish legions and auxiliaries who were stationed in North Britain during the Roman occupation.

Roman altars with inscriptions to Mars Condatis have been found in the Tees and Wear valleys. Similar altars are normally found at the confluence of rivers – for example, the Cong Burn–Wear confluence near Chester-le-Street – however others may have been disturbed or removed, especially by antiquarians and collectors.

The inscription Mars Condatis is a conflation (joining together) of deities::

1. Roman god Mars – god of war and father of Romulus, the founder of Rome.
2. Gaulish deity Condatis – god of river confluences.

The name Tutta may derive from the Gaulish deity Toutatis (or Tūtatus) – god of the tribe.

The two main source tributaries for Tutta Beck rise near Boldron and Kilmond Scar and meet at its source confluence near the A66 road junction known as Cross Lanes. The beck flows from west to east parallel to Watling Street (A66 road) until its confluence with the River Greta north of Maglona Roman fort. Archaeological excavations in the 1970's found remains of a vicus on the west bank of the beck.

Local history

Timeline

Timeline for Greta Bridge and the surrounding area:

Date	Event
1069-70	Harrying of the North
1086	Domesday Book Mortham and Brignall ..."Possibly waste...when acquired by current owner..."
c.1166	Original Mortham Tower built by the Rokeby's.
c.1195	Egglestone Abbey founded as a daughter house of Easby Abbey.
c.1314	Mortham Tower destroyed by raiding Scots following the Battle of Bannockburn.
c.1540	Egglestone Abbey granted to Robert Strelley following the Dissolution of the monasteries.
1725-31	Rokeby Park built for Sir Thomas Robinson.
1769	Rokeby Park sold to the Morritt family.
1771	The great flood of 1771. Greta bridge destroyed. Old Brignall church destroyed.
1773	Greta bridge replaced with current one designed by John Carr.
1799	The Lake Poets Wordsworth and Coleridge explored the area around Greta Bridge.
1802	Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson.
1805	The artist John Sell Cotman sketched the area around Greta Bridge.
1806	Cotman's Greta Bridge (1805) and other work exhibited.
1813	The romantic poem Rokeby by Walter Scott published.
1813	The famous painting the Rokeby Venus by Spanish painter Diego Velázquez purchased and brought to England to hang in Rokeby Park.
1816	J. M. W. Turner sketched Junction of the Greta and Tees at Rokeby.
1829-31	Whorlton Bridge – part of the Staindrop to Greta Bridge turnpike.
1834	Greta Bridge was an important staging post – with three inns.
1839	Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens published.
1868	Bowes railway station opened on the Stockton to Liverpool railway.
1974	Greta Bridge transferred from North Riding of Yorkshire to County Durham.

Domesday Book

The composition of the Honour of Richmond in 1071.

The local area was badly affected by the harrying of the North – due to its close proximity to the Great North Road.

The Domesday entry for Mortham [Tower] and Brignall ("Bringhenale") show:

..."Possibly waste...when acquired by current owner..."

At that time the land south of the Tees – including Mortham and Brignall – was part of the Gilling wapentake, and part of the Honour of Richmond.

The bridge

The current bridge was built in 1773 to replace the one destroyed by the great flood of 1771. It was designed by John Carr for John Sawry Morritt, father of J B S Morritt. Morritt also paid for the Abbey Bridge to be built in the same year.

Mail coach

Prior to the arrival of the railways in the 1850's, Greta Bridge had been an important overnight stop for the London to Carlisle coach. Overnight passengers and visitors would stay at one of the three coaching inns in the village.

1. The Morritt Arms.
2. The George.
3. George and New Inn (now Thorpe Grange Farmhouse).

Wordsworth and his wife Mary were regular users of the mail coach in order to travel over from the Lakes to visit Mary's parents at Stockton-on-Tees.

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens wrote his famous book Nicholas Nickleby in order to expose the truth about the boarding schools for young boys in North Yorkshire. He deplored what he considered to be the exploitation and harsh treatment of boys who stayed at those schools – many were expected to do hard labour on the land, such as hay making and mucking out – in addition to their school work. Sanitary arrangements were often poor, resulting in ill health if not actual death. Diet was also generally poor, and boys often went hungry.

There was a cluster of these schools around the Greta Bridge area – due to its convenient location for travel from London using the London to Carlisle mail coach. Most of the boys were from wealthy parents who lived in London or the South.

The book was hugely successful, in terms of sales, reception and reform of the system.

Woden Croft

Woden Croft is now a Grade II listed building, located just north of Cotherstone in Teesdale, near the Balder–Tees river confluence. During the 19th century Woden Croft had been a private academy run by Edward Simpson, and typical of the Yorkshire schools satirized by Dickens.

Fenrir, Gosforth Cross, Cumbria.
Fenrir (enemy of Odin) and Baldr feature in the poem Eiríksmál, written after the death of Eric Bloodaxe on Stainmore.

The name Woden is a play on the Norse mythology of Baldersdale – Woden is the English name for the Norse god Óðinn – father of the Norse god Baldr.

Then, Balder, one bleak garth was thine,
And one sweet brooklet's silver line,
And Woden's Croft did title gain
From the stern Father of the Slain;
 – Walter Scott (1771 – 1832)

See also Wiktionary:

1. English croft
   1. "An enclosed piece of land... used for small-scale food production..."

Romantic arts and tourism

See also: Romantic art, Romantic poetry, Romanticism, and Romanticism in Scotland

During the eighteenth century Teesdale became a popular destination for romantic artists, poets and writers, who inspired others to follow.

..."The Greta and Tees, two most beautiful and rapid rivers, join their currents in the demesne.
The banks of the Tees resemble, from the heights of the rocks, the glen of Roslin, so much and justly admired.

 — Sir Walter Scott (1771 – 1832).

Rokeby Park

Main article: Rokeby Park

The main building is a Grade I listed country house, built 1725-31 in the Palladian style for Sir Thomas Robinson. The house was sold to the Morritt family in 1769. In 1773 John Sawry Morritt (father of J B S Morritt) paid for the rebuilding of the Greta bridge and for the building of the Abbey Bridge.

John Bacon Sawrey Morritt was a patron of the arts, who nurtured young painters (for example John Sell Cotman), poets and writers, guided and advised them about the local area, its history and geography. Morritt was also a business man who hoped that the influx of painters, poets and writers to the region would spark a vigorous tourist trade, and boost the local economy.

The famous painting the Rokeby Venus by Spanish painter Diego Velázquez was purchased c.1813 and brought to England to hang in Rokeby Park. In 1906 the painting was purchased for the National Gallery in London.

Rokeby visitors

See also: John Bacon Sawrey Morritt § Associations

Rokeby Venus, c. 1647–1651. National Gallery, London.

Notable visitors to Rokeby Park included:

Year	Visits	Name	Profession
1767, 1769.	? 2	Thomas Gray	Poet, scholar.
1796 – 1831.	? 4	J. M. W. Turner	Romantic painter.
1799 – ?	?	Wordsworth	Lake Poet.
1805	? 1	John Sell Cotman	Romantic painter.
1809 – 1831.	? 6	Walter Scott	Romantic poet.
1812 – 1829.	? 2	Robert Southey	Lake Poet.

Lake Poets

See also: Sockburn § Lake poets ( Wordsworth, Coleridge )

In 1799 Wordsworth and Coleridge explored the area around Greta Bridge, after visiting Mary Hutchinson at Sockburn. Mary lived on her parents farm on the Sockburn Peninsula – the peninsula created by a tight meander of the River Tees. Wordsworth married Mary in 1802, and the couple often travelled over from the Lakes to visit Mary's parents, using the mail coach to Greta Bridge, and stopping over at Rokeby.

John Sell Cotman

Greta Bridge (1805), British Museum.

The romantic painter John Sell Cotman (1782 – 1842) first explored the Greta Bridge area in 1805 when 23 years old. He had been invited by the Cholmeley family to stay with them at Rokeby Hall.

Greta Bridge (1805)

Cotman's best known work from his early period is the watercolour Greta Bridge (1805), now in the British Museum, which he painted from sketches made during his visit to Rokeby Park. The view is from the south of the bridge looking north, the Morritt Arms is shown on the left side of the bridge. The profile shown at the top of the bridge is noticeably different from that of the actual bridge – it shows a higher more pronounced summit – whereas the actual bridge has a gentle curved profile. It has been suggested that this was influenced by the geometry of the earlier bridge that had been destroyed in the great flood of 1771. The foreground is dominated by huge boulders – possibly swept down during the great flood.

Walter Scott

Main article: Walter Scott

Walter Scott's poem The Lady of the Lake, published 1810, had been hugely successful and was well received by the general public. The poem – set around Loch Katrine in the Trossachs – placed that part of Scotland firmly on the tourist map, boosting the economy of local towns, for example Callander. When Scott announced to J B S Morritt that he was planning to write a similar poem based around Teesdale, Morritt offered his services as a guide, possibly anticipating how it might spark a wealthy tourist trade, and boost the local economy. Scott's poem Rokeby, published 1813, was also hugely successful and did attract many new visitors to Teesdale.

Rokeby (poem)

Main article: Rokeby (poem)

Scott's poem Rokeby was largely based on local information provided by Morritt (or from books recommended by him), for example the Norse mythology behind many place names in Teesdale.

Roseberry Topping (Othenesberg 1119)
("Othin's Peak" or "Odin's Peak").

Extract from Rokeby – Canto Fourth:

When Denmark's raven soar'd on high,
Triumphant through Northumbrian sky,
Till, hovering near, her fatal croak
Bade Reged's Britons dread the yoke,
And the broad shadow of her wing
Blacken'd each cataract and spring,
Where Tees in tumult leaves his source,
Thundering o'er Caldron and High-Force;
Beneath the shade the Northmen came,
Fix'd on each vale a Runic name,
Rear'd high their altar's rugged stone,
And gave their Gods the land they won.
Then, Balder, one bleak garth was thine,
And one sweet brooklet's silver line,
And Woden's Croft did title gain
From the stern Father of the Slain;

– Walter Scott (1771 – 1832)

See also

• Bowes Museum
• List of places in County Durham
• List of Roman place names in Britain
• Roman sites in Great Britain

Sources

• Higham, Nick (1986). The Northern Counties to AD 1000. Longman. ISBN 0-582-49276-9.
• MacKillop, James (2004). Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860967-1.
• Oliver, Neil (2012). A History of Ancient Britain. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0753828861.
• Rabbitts, Paul; Rabbitts, David (2022). Cotherstone: A Village in Teesdale. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1398113831.
• Rudd, Michael D. C. (2007). The Discovery of Teesdale. Phillimore & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-1860774539.
• Warwick, Tosh; Parker, Jenny (2016). River Tees: From Source to Sea. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445634876.
• Watts, Victor (2007). The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7.

External links

• Tynedale Hadrian's Wall Group Greta Bridge Roman Fort Maglona.