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 small village (or hamlet) on the River Greta 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:

1. Old Norse grjót
   1. "coarse stones, rubble".
2. Old English ēa
   1. "river".
   2. "running water, 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.

Former

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.

Local history

Ramparts at Greta Bridge

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 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.

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.
• The Morritt Hotel The Morritt Hotel and Garage Spa.
• Durham County Council