Swarkestone Bridge
Swarkestone Bridge, the longest stone bridge in England.
warkestone Bridge is almost a mile
in length and crosses an area of low-lying
marshy land as well as the River
Trent. It was originally built in the
early 13th century, on behalf of two
beautiful sisters of the Bellamont
family, in memory of their fiancés, as
legend has it.
he sisters were holding a party to
celebrate their joint betrothal when
the two young men were summoned
to attend a meeting of barons on the
other side of the Trent. They reached
the meeting safely, but while they
were there, the river became swollen
by a rainstorm. Although it became a
flood of rushing water, the men were
eager to get back to their beautiful
sweethearts and attempted to ford the
river on horseback. Their horses
swam valiantly against the torrent
but their efforts were in vain. Both
men were swept away and drowned.
he heartbroken Bellamont girls
built the bridge over the Trent to
prevent such a tragedy occurring again,
and in memory of the drowned men.
Neither girl ever married. In fact the
legend states that they spent so much
money on the bridge that they died
not only unwed, but also in extreme
poverty, being buried in one grave in
Prestwold Church in Leicestershire.
Their ghosts are said to be seen on
stormy nights when the River Trent is
swollen, looking for their lost loves
who were so tragically drowned in the
river's murky waters.
hen Charles Edward Stuart and
his small army of Highlanders
reached Derby on 4 December 1745,
one of their most important tasks was
to send a party the seven miles from
Derby to Swarkestone to try to secure
the bridge over the River Trent.
Swarkestone Bridge is the longest
stone bridge in England, and in 1745
it was the only bridge across the River
Trent between Burton and
Nottingham. For the prince's army it
was also the only way to London and
probable victory.
eventy Highland soldiers, probably
cavalry, were sent to secure the
bridge, and they reached it four hours
before Government troops, who had
been ordered to destroy the bridge to
stop Charlie's army from crossing it.
Those 70 Scottish soldiers held
Swarkestone Bridge until 6 December.
Some of them went over it to
Melbourne, to warn locals to prepare
billets for the Highland army when
they crossed over on their way to take
the throne from King George II. This
was not to be, of course, the decision
being made at Derby to turn back.
Thus, Swarkestone Bridge was the
farthest point south reached by
Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops.
The cairn close to Swarkestone Bridge marking the southern most point reached by the invading Highland army.
ome 102 years earlier there had
been a skirmish on Swarkestone
Bridge between troops of Bonnic
Prince Charlie's great-grandfather,
Charles 1, and those of Oliver
Cromwell during the English Civil
War. Sir John Harpur of Swarkestone
fortified his own home, and the
bridge as well. Sir John Gell, the
Parliamentary commandant of
Derby, led his own regiment out of
the town and hurled them against the
Royalist barricades at Swarkestone
Bridge. Seven or eight men were
killed during that skirmish.
here have been many strange
sightings at Swarkestone, one of the
most interesting coming from a
gentleman who told me: "I was
walking my dog. It was late at night
and it had just started to rain when in
the distance, I could hear the sound of
horses' hooves. I thought at the time
that it was locals out for a late ride.
This thought was soon dismissed as
the noise of horses' hooves became
accompanied by the sound of clatter
and talking which became louder and
louder. My curiosity aroused, I waited
in anticipation for the late riders to
appear. They never did, although the
noises became louder still, until, in
the end when I thought that I could
take it no more, the noise and the
chaotic clatter stopped.
y dog Harvey, with me all the
time that the clamour was taking
place, seemed not to have been
affected by what had happened.
Further along Swarkestone Bridge, I
met a lady who also was walking her
dogs and asked her if she had seen or
heard anything. She looked at me
blankly, stating that she did not know
what I was talking about. I also asked
two other people in the vicinity but
they, likewise, denied hearing
anything. Several months later, I was
telling an elderly aunt about my
experience. She did not seem unduly
surprised and when I had finished
she told me that she too had heard
something similar in 1948. My aunt
also told me that what I had
experienced was apparently the
ghosts of Bonnie Prince Charlie and
his Highlanders trying to cross the
bridge."
Swarkestone Bridge and the River Trent
s it possible that this gentleman
heard the ghosts of a cavalry
detachment belonging to Bonnie
Prince Charlie as they were being
recalled back to Derby for the long
retreat to Scotland and the eventual
destruction of the Highland army at
the Battle of Culloden?
r could it have
been the battling troops of Charles I
and Cromwell's armies re-enacting a
skirmish on Swarkestone Bridge on 5
January 1643?
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The information on this page is supplied courtesy of Wayne Anthony (author) and Richard Felix (local historian).
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