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Intro
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 and poets during the eighteenth century.

..."The Greta and Tees, two most beautiful and rapid rivers, join their currents in the demesne. The banks of the Tees resemble, from the heights of the rocks, the glen of Roslin, so much and justly admired. — Sir Walter Scott (1771 – 1832).

Governance
Greta Bridge is part of County Durham district and is governed by Durham County Council. It lies in close proximity to North Yorkshire district.

Former
Greta Bridge lies within the historic county...

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Location
The village lies on the eastern flanks of the North Pennines – about 6 mi east of the North Pennines area of outstanding natural beauty. The nearest town – Barnard Castle – is the market town for Teesdale.

Parish boundary
The village is divided between Rokeby parish and Brignall parish – by the river Greta.

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Listed buildings, monuments
Notable listed buildings and scheduled monuments in the local area include:

Roman road (Watling street)
Greta Bridge is on the route of the trans-Pennine (Stainmore Pass) section of Watling Street (North) Roman road – now largely followed by the A66 trunk road. Archaeological excavations during the 1970's found part of the original road.

Watling Street (North) connected York (Eboracum) with Carlisle (Luguvalium) and Stanwix Roman fort (Petriana) – the largest fort on Hadrian's Wall.

Route from York to Carlisle:

Archaeological excavations near Scotch Corner have recently (c.2017) discovered a previously unknown major Roman settlement.

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Overview
An inscription found near the north gate suggests that the castrum (fort) was built during the early third century AD, although it is possible that a fort existed on the site as early as the first century AD. The castrum was built to protect the Watling street crossing of the River Greta – river crossings were particularly vulnerable to attack from the local Brigantes or from other local tribes.

Many of the legions and auxiliaries who were stationed in North Britain during the Roman occupation originated from Roman Gaul (France) and Hispania (Spain). The name Tutta (from Tutta Beck) may derive from the Gaulish deity Toutatis (or Tūtatus) – god of the tribe.

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Tutta Beck
The Tutta Beck–Greta confluence and the Greta–Tees confluence are both in close proximity to Maglona Roman fort. River confluences had a special significance for the Gaulish legions and auxiliaries who were stationed in North Britain during the Roman occupation.

Roman altars with inscriptions to Mars Condatis have been found in the Tees and Wear valleys. Similar altars are normally found at the confluence of rivers – for example, the Cong Burn–Wear confluence near Chester-le-Street – however others may have been disturbed or removed, especially by antiquarians and collectors.

The inscription Mars Condatis is a conflation (joining together) of deities::
 * 1) Roman god Mars – god of war and father of Romulus, the founder of Rome.
 * 2) Gaulish deity Condatis – god of river confluences.

The name Tutta may derive from the Gaulish deity Toutatis (or Tūtatus) – god of the tribe.

The two main source tributaries for Tutta Beck rise near Boldron and Kilmond Scar and meet at its source confluence near the A66 road junction known as Cross Lanes. The burn flows from west to east parallel to Watling Street (A66 road) until its confluence with the River Greta north of Maglona Roman fort. Archaeological excavations in the 1970's found remains of a vicus on the west bank of the beck.

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Local Roman forts
Local Roman forts in the Tees and Wear valleys were mostly positioned to protect important river crossings:

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Chronology
Timeline for the local area:

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Domesday Book


The local area was badly affected by the harrying of the North – due to its close proximity to the Great North Road. The Domesday entry for Mortham [Tower] and Brignall ("Bringhenale") shows: "..."Possibly waste...when acquired by current owner...""

At that time the land south of the Tees – including Mortham and Brignall – was part of the Gilling wapentake, and part of the Honour of Richmond.

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The bridge
The current bridge was built in 1773 to replace the one destroyed by the great flood of 1771. It was designed by John Carr for John Sawry Morritt, father of J B S Morritt. Morritt also paid for the Abbey Bridge to be built in the same year.

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Mail coach
Prior to the arrival of the railways, Greta Bridge had been an important overnight stop for the London to Carlisle coach. Overnight passengers and visitors would stay at one of the three coaching inns in the village.


 * 1) The Morritt Arms.
 * 2) The George.
 * 3) George and New Inn (now Thorpe Grange Farmhouse).

Wordsworth and his wife Mary were regular users of the mail coach in order to travel over from the Lakes to visit Mary's parents at Stockton-on-Tees. Mary's parents had moved there from their farm on the Sockburn Peninsula – near the Tees.

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Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens wrote his famous book Nicholas Nickleby in order to expose the truth about the boarding schools for young boys in North Yorkshire. He deplored what he considered to be the exploitation and harsh treatment of boys who stayed at those schools – many were expected to do hard labour on the land, such as hay making and mucking out – in addition to their school work. Sanitary arrangements were often poor, resulting in ill health if not actual death. Diet was also generally poor, and boys often went hungry.

There was a cluster of these schools around the Greta Bridge area – due to its convenient location for travel from London using the London to Carlisle mail coach. Most of the boys were from wealthy parents who lived in London or the South.

The book was hugely successful, in terms of sales, reception and reform of the system.

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Yorkshire schools
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Woden Croft
Woden Croft is now a Grade II listed building, located just north of Cotherstone in Teesdale, near the Balder–Tees river confluence. During the 19th century Woden Croft had been a private academy run by Edward Simpson, and typical of the Yorkshire schools satirized by Dickens.

The name Woden is a play on the Norse mythology of Baldersdale – Woden is the English name for the Norse god Óðinn – father of the Norse god Baldr. Then, Balder, one bleak garth was thine, And one sweet brooklet's silver line, And Woden's Croft did title gain From the stern Father of the Slain; – Walter Scott (1771 – 1832)

See also wiktionary:
 * 1) English croft
 * 2) "An enclosed piece of land... used for small-scale food production..."

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Romantic arts and tourism
During the eighteenth century Teesdale became a popular destination for artists, poets and writers, who inspired others to follow.

Rokeby Park
Rokeby Hall is a Grade I listed country house, built 1725-31 in the Palladian style for Sir Thomas Robinson. The house was sold to the Morritt family in 1769. In 1773 John Sawry Morritt (father of J B S Morritt) paid for the rebuilding of the Greta bridge.

John Bacon Sawrey Morritt was a patron of the arts, who nurtured young painters (for example John Sell Cotman), poets and writers, guided and advised them about the local area, its history and geography. Morritt was also a wily business man who hoped that the influx of painters, poets and writers to the region would spark a vigorous tourist trade, and boost the local economy.

Rokeby visitors
Notable visitors to Rokeby Park include:

Lake Poets
In 1799 Wordsworth and Coleridge explored the area around Greta Bridge, after visiting Mary Hutchinson at Sockburn. Mary lived on her parents farm on the Sockburn Peninsula – a natural peninsula created by a tight meander of the River Tees. Wordsworth married Mary in 1802, and the couple often travelled over from the Lakes to visit Mary's parents, using the mail coach to Greta Bridge, and stopping over at Rokeby.

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John Sell Cotman


The romantic painter John Sell Cotman (1782 – 1842) first explored the Greta Bridge area in 1805 when 23 years old. He had been invited by the Cholmeley family to stay with them at Rokeby Hall.

Greta Bridge (1805)
Cotman's best known work from his early period is the watercolour Greta Bridge (1805), now in the British Museum, which he painted from sketches made during his visit to Rokeby Park. The view is from the south of the bridge looking north, the Morritt Arms is shown on the left side of the bridge. The profile shown of the top of the bridge is noticeably different from that of the actual bridge – it shows a higher more pronounced summit – whereas the actual bridge has a gentle curved profile. It has been suggested that this was influenced by the geometry of the earlier bridge that had been destroyed in the great flood of 1771.

The foreground is dominated by huge boulders swept down by the great flood.

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Walter Scott
Walter Scott's poem The Lady of the Lake, published 1810, had been hugely successful and was well received by the general public. The poem – set around Loch Katrine in the Trossachs – placed that part of Scotland firmly on the tourist map, boosting the economy of local towns, for example Callander. When Scott announced to J B S Morritt that he was planning to write a similar poem based around Teesdale, Morritt offered his services as a guide, possibly anticipating how it might spark a wealthy tourist trade, and boost the local economy. Scott's poem Rokeby, published 1813, was also hugely successful and did attract many new visitors to Teesdale.

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Rokeby (poem)
Scott's poem Rokeby was largely based on local information provided by Morritt (or from books recommended by him), for example the Norse mythology behind many place names in Teesdale.



Extract from Rokeby – Canto Fourth:

When Denmark's raven soar'd on high, Triumphant through Northumbrian sky, Till, hovering near, her fatal croak Bade Reged's Britons dread the yoke, And the broad shadow of her wing Blacken'd each cataract and spring, Where Tees in tumult leaves his source, Thundering o'er Caldron and High-Force; Beneath the shade the Northmen came, Fix'd on each vale a Runic name, Rear'd high their altar's rugged stone, And gave their Gods the land they won. Then, Balder, one bleak garth was thine, And one sweet brooklet's silver line, And Woden's Croft did title gain From the stern Father of the Slain; – Walter Scott (1771 – 1832)

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