OLD TRENT BRIDGE.

AS early as the year 924 it is recorded that a bridge spanned the river here, the piers being of stone and the superstructure of wood. Henry II. is credited with the construction of the first arched bridge of stone-one of the first in the country-in 1156. This was known as the Hethebeche Brigge, and had a chapel thereon. By 1364 the condition of the same became very dilapidated, and eventually the town of Nottingham undertook to maintain it, the cost of its upkeep having previously been defrayed jointly by Nottingham, Derby, and Lincoln.

In 1551 a grant was made for amending, sustaining, and repairing the bridge, but one of the arches gave way in 1636, and cost £100 to rebuild. The Trent Bridge figured conspicuously during the Civil War. At this period it consisted of fifteen arches of stone and brick; its length being about 668 feet, and the width thereof varied from eighteen to twenty-one-and-a-half feet. The river was diverted in 1682-3 for the purposes of reparation of the bridge, the latter year being noted for the fact that the great flood bore away a huge portion of the structure. In 1725 the latter was repaired at considerable expense, the eastern parapet widened in 1806, and in 1810 the buildings on the northern end were demolished and the bridge widened.

The bridge was again repaired in 1826, and it is of interest to know that the late Queen Victoria crossed the bridge in 1843. During the last score of years the old bridge stood constant repairs were executed, and plans were prepared for an altogether new structure in 1853, but these were not proceeded with.

The present Trent Bridge was opened on July 25th, 1871, and was erected by the Corporation of Nottingham, at an expense of £30,000.