As they approach their one thousandth birthday the only two remaining arches of the old Trent Bridge are left to gently crumble in anonymity. Amidst the hurley-burley of incessant traffic they reside uncelebrated beneath the complex of roads leading to the West Bridgford end of the new bridge, drivers and passengers oblivious to their fate.
Of the seventeen arches that constituted the former bridge these are the only two that made it relatively unscathed into the nineteenth century having survived the ravages of time, the elements, and civil war, to bequeath us a priceless legacy of medieval gothic bridge building. 
Swept away or extensively damaged by catastrophic floods and the elements, the remaining arches, rebuilt, repaired, and poorly maintained carried little of their original heritage. It is considered that two of these arches were destroyed by Royalist forces based at Newark during the English Civil War. After one of many forays across the bridge to instigate deadly skirmishes against the Parliamentary forces based in the castle, they pulled down two arches on their return in order to prevent any pursuit.
Constructed c1156 during the reign of King Henry II the bridge was originally only about twelve feet wide and with low parapets and easily potholed, would have presented a challenging crossing particularly if guiding a horse and cart!
It is understood that a chapel was constructed on one arch c1302 and dedicated to St Mary. Several pieces of carved stone, assumed to have formed part of the windows to the chapel were discovered in 1826 on the riverbed beneath a middle arch.
The old bridge was replaced in 1871, unmourned and soon demolished, by the fine structure we see today. The surviving arches were Grade II listed in 1987 as a “building of special interest which should be preserved if possible”.
Written by West Bridgford & District History Society.
The Society meets in the hall of the Musters Road Methodist Church, on the corner of Musters Road and Patrick Road. Our meeting on Monday 6th February, at 7.30pm, will include a brief AGM, followed by Brian Binns entertaining us with a talk entitled “Did you know of these interesting people who lived in West Bridgford?”.
Visitors welcome.