SK2626 : Monk's Bridge
taken 31 years ago, near to Egginton, Derbyshire, England
There was a bridge carrying the Derby road over the river Dove between Staffordshire and Derbyshire by at least the earlier 13th century, when it was called Egginton bridge. Later in the same century the bridge was rebuilt and maintained by John of Stretton, prior of Burton abbey, after whose death the inhabitants of Egginton refused to make a contribution to its upkeep, claiming that responsibility rested with the abbey: an inquest of 1256, however, found that the bridge was maintained by the alms and legacies of the whole neighbourhood. Still called Egginton bridge in 1294, it was known as Monk bridge in 1394 when the Crown granted a chaplain permission to collect alms for its repair. The chaplain built himself a chapel on the bridge and in 1398 a chantry was established there dedicated to St. Anne, evidently in honour of the queen. By the mid 16th century Egginton parish was at least partly responsible for its upkeep: two of its church bells were sold in 1548 to raise money for repairs. By the late 17th century the bridge was a county responsibility shared by Staffordshire and Derbyshire, who widened it in 1775. A new bridge over the Dove was built on the northside of Monks bridge when the road was realigned in the 1930s, and it was retained when the A38 bypass was opened in the late 1960s. Monks bridge survives as part of a slip road.
(From: British History Online. Archive Link )