Derwent Mouth

Last updated January 18, 2022

Derwent Mouth is a location on the River Trent, which at that point forms the border between the English counties of Derbyshire and Leicestershire. It is both the confluence of the River Derwent with the River Trent, and the point at which the Trent and Mersey Canal joins the natural River Trent.

Derwent Mouth is situated closest to Sawley, Derbyshire and is 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of Shardlow, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Trent Lock, where the navigable River Soar and Erewash Canal join the River Trent. It is about 9 miles (14 km) south-west of the centre of the city of Nottingham, and 7 miles (11 km) south-east of central Derby.

The River Trent is navigable, with the aid of locks, downstream of Derwent Mouth as far as the Humber Estuary. The Trent itself is also navigable for a short distance upstream, but most river traffic enters the parallel Trent and Mersey Canal, which provides connections to the River Mersey and the canal networks of the West Midlands region. The River Derwent is not navigable.

Long Horse Bridge

Long Horse Bridge was originally a wooden bridge that crossed the Trent at Derwent mouth to take the tow path across the river so that horses hauling the barges down the Trent & Mersey could continue along the southern bank of the Trent navigation and vice versa for boats travelling up the river.^[1]

Following a thaw in 1893, the bridge collapsed when blocks of ice carried down by the river shattered the supporting legs. Bargees who had been ensnared by the frozen conditions attempted to protect the bridge by adding heavy loads, and by fending off the ice floes. When the bridge finally gave way, James Thompson ended up afloat on the ice, and was washed downstream, but he later reached the riverbank unharmed.^[2] The wooden bridge was reconstructed after this incident.^[1]

In 1932 the Trent Navigation company rebuilt the wooden crossing at the same location using reinforced concrete. After 70 years the bridge was suffering from severe concrete degradation, and was subsequently closed in 2002 due to safety issues, and demolished a year later.^[1]

Rather than reinstate a similar bridge, it was decided to construct a wider multi-user crossing at a location some 140m upstream from Derwent Mouth. The main section of the new bridge was hoisted into position in September 2011 using large cranes, with the bridge opening in November the same year. The project to build the 60 tonne bridge which has a span of 52 m (170 ft), cost £1.4 million.^[3]^[4]

The crossing resolved a number of problems for walkers, cyclists and horse riders in that it allows the Midshires bridleway to cross the Trent and also restores the tow-path link between Shardlow and Sawley a route that previously required a detour via Cavendish Bridge. The diversion and loss of the bridge being one of the access issues identified as part of the study into the viability of the western extension of the Trent Valley Way, which begins nearby at Trent Lock. The bridge also provides a connection between the Trent Valley footpath and the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, which ends at Derwent Mouth.^[5]

Related Research Articles

The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93+1⁄2-mile (150 km) canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middlewich, it is a wide canal.

The Derwent is a river in Derbyshire, England. It is 50 miles (80 km) long and is a tributary of the River Trent, which it joins south of Derby. Throughout its course, the river mostly flows through the Peak District and its foothills.

River Trent River in England – third-longest in the UK

The River Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains most of the metropolitan central and northern Midlands south and east of its source north of Stoke-on-Trent. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and spring snowmelt, which in past times often caused the river to change course.

The Cromford Canal ran 14.5 miles from Cromford to the Erewash Canal in Derbyshire, England with a branch to Pinxton. Built by William Jessop with the assistance of Benjamin Outram, its alignment included four tunnels and 14 locks.

The Derby Canal ran 14 miles (23 km) from the Trent and Mersey Canal at Swarkestone to Derby and Little Eaton, and to the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre, in Derbyshire, England. The canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1793 and was fully completed in 1796. It featured a level crossing of the River Derwent in the centre of Derby. An early tramroad, known as the Little Eaton Gangway, linked Little Eaton to coal mines at Denby. The canal's main cargo was coal, and it was relatively successful until the arrival of the railways in 1840. It gradually declined, with the gangway closing in 1908 and the Little Eaton Branch in 1935. Early attempts at restoration were thwarted by the closure of the whole canal in 1964. Since 1994, there has been an active campaign for restoration spearheaded by the Derby and Sandiacre Canal Trust and Society. Loss of the Derwent crossing due to development has resulted in an innovative engineering solution called the Derby Arm being proposed, as a way of transferring boats across the river.

The Erewash Canal is a broad canal in Derbyshire, England. It runs just under 12 miles (19 km) and has 14 locks. The first lock at Langley Bridge is part of the Cromford Canal.

Shardlow is a village in Derbyshire, England about 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Derby and 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Nottingham. Part of the civil parish of Shardlow and Great Wilne, and the district of South Derbyshire, it is also very close to the border with Leicestershire, defined by route of the River Trent which passes close to the south. Just across the Trent is the Castle Donington parish of North West Leicestershire.

Trent Lock is located south of Long Eaton, on the borders of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the United Kingdom. The area is a major canal navigation junction, where the River Soar and Erewash Canal can reach the Trent and Mersey Canal by way of the River Trent and adjacent Cranfleet Cut.

Great Wilne is a small village in Derbyshire, England on the border with Leicestershire. It is 7 miles (11 km) south east of Derby. It is a village split from its church of St Chad's by the river. The church is at the very small hamlet of Church Wilne which can only be approached by a short walk via the bridge over the River Derwent, or by a fair car journey which necessitates travelling out of the county. The population at the 2011 Census is included in the civil parish of Shardlow and Great Wilne.

Trent railway station was situated near Long Eaton in Derbyshire at the junction of the Midland Railway line from London to Derby and Nottingham. It was unusual in that it did not serve any community, being simply an interchange. Forty years following closure, East Midlands Parkway railway station was opened for functionally similar purposes.

Twyford and Stenson is a civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. Located south of Derby on the Trent and Mersey Canal, it consists of two villages, Stenson and its smaller neighbour Twyford.

The Piscassic River is a 15.3-mile-long (24.6 km) river located in southeastern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Lamprey River, part of the Great Bay and Piscataqua River watershed leading to the Atlantic Ocean.

A large number of canals were built in Cheshire, England, during the early phases of the Industrial Revolution to transport goods and raw materials. This resulted in a significant canal network which is now enjoyed by holiday-makers, anglers, walkers, and others.

Haywood Junction, or Great Haywood Junction, is the name of the canal junction where the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal terminates and meets the Trent and Mersey Canal near to the village of Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England.

Sawley is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Erewash, in southeast Derbyshire, England. With a slightly higher than average number of people over 65, the population of just the civil parish was measured at 6,629 as at the 2011 Census.

The Derwent Valley Heritage Way (DVHW) is a 55 miles (89 km) waymarked footpath along the Derwent Valley through the Peak District. The walk starts from Ladybower Reservoir in the Peak District National Park via Chatsworth, the scenery around the Derbyshire Dales, and through the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. It follows the Riverside Path through Derby and continues onwards to the historic inland port of Shardlow. Journey's end is at Derwent Mouth where the River Derwent flows into the River Trent.

Cavendish Bridge is a bridge over the River Trent, connecting the counties of Leicestershire and Derbyshire; it is also the name of a hamlet on the Leicestershire side of the river within the Castle Donington parish. This bridge once carried the main London-Manchester turnpike, though the modern A6/A50 dual carriageway has now been built to the south bypassing the crossing.

King's Mill is the traditional crossing point of the River Trent between Castle Donington in Leicestershire and Weston-on-Trent in Derbyshire. The Mill was the farthest point that traffic from the River Humber could progress. A lock was installed here to make the river navigable but the business eventually collapsed due to competition with the Trent and Mersey Canal. The mill was used for grinding flints for the pottery industry, locally mined plaster, and dyestuffs when it was owned by Samuel Lloyd of the Birmingham banking company.

References

1 2 3 Stone, Richard (2005). River Trent. Phillimore. pp. 37, 74. ISBN 1860773567.
↑ "The Long Eaton and Sawley Archive". Local Rivers. long-eaton.com. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
↑ "Derby Telegraph News". Celebrations as bridge finally drops into place. derbytelegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
↑ "BBC News". Bridge moved into place over River Trent in Derbyshire. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
↑ "River News" (PDF). On Trent Newsletter Summer 2010. On Trent. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.

Coordinates: 52°52′21″N1°19′09″W / 52.8725°N 1.3193°W / 52.8725; -1.3193

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[stone-1] 1 2 3 Stone, Richard (2005). River Trent. Phillimore. pp. 37, 74. ISBN 1860773567.

[2] "The Long Eaton and Sawley Archive". Local Rivers. long-eaton.com. Retrieved 1 November 2013.

[Derbytel-3] "Derby Telegraph News". Celebrations as bridge finally drops into place. derbytelegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.

[bbc-4] "BBC News". Bridge moved into place over River Trent in Derbyshire. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2013.

[otnews-5] "River News" (PDF). On Trent Newsletter Summer 2010. On Trent. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.

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