Greta Bridge

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;
	List of places UK England County Durham 54°30′48″N 1°52′02″W / 54.51336°N 1.86715°W

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

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.

A Roman fort and associated vicus (ancient name unknown) were located here, next to the major Roman road that became the modern A66.^[1]^[2]^[3]

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.

^ Historic England. "Monument No. 19926". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
^ Historic England. "Monument No. 1143630". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 3 October 2015.
^ Vanderbilt, S. "Places: 496316189 (Greta Bridge)". Pleiades. Retrieved 25 January 2012.

Higham, Nick (1986). The Northern Counties to AD 1000. Longman. ISBN 0-582-49276-9.

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.