Description: The old Trent Bridge looking toward the Nottingham bank. A bridge has existed at or around the current location since 924 during the reign of Edward the Elder when an oak superstructure was supported by stone piers - with evidence that the site also had a ferry during occupation by the Danes. In 1156, in the reign of Henry II came a stone, gothic arch style bridge, with 17 arch spans in total. This structure remained for a considerable period with reconstruction works dated at 1275 and 1374. The structure sustained considerable damage during the Cromwellian wars, with a great flood further adding to the damage. The bridge as it appears today was constructed over a three-year period between 1868 and 1871, for the price of £36,000. The architect of the new bridge was M Ogle Tarbotton, with ornamental metalwork by Andrew Handyside of Derby. Construction took place alongside the existing bridge, until the completion of the new bridge allowed the older structure to be demolished. Two of the approach spans to the older bridge still remain, next to the road outside County Hall. The bridge was then widened (1924 - 1926) to allow the six-lane capacity that exists today. The artist was Thomas Cooper Moore (1827 - 1901), who was a nineteenth century painter, watercolourist and pen and ink artist who first trained as an architect before dedicating himself to art. He was mainly self taught in this field but later started the first sketching class in Nottingham and was a founder of the Nottingham Society of artists. Most of Moore's landscapes were produced in or around the Nottingham area. He seems to have particularly liked drawing and painting pub and inns as well as scenes by the local rivers and canals. During this time and later in the nineteenth century his art was exhibited in Sheffield, Nottingham, Birmingham and London. T. C. Moore was also the father and teacher of Claude T. S. Moore (1853-1901), who became very well known for his paintings and watercolours of the Thames and other river views. A number of Thomas Cooper Moore's drawings and watercolours are housed in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. There are many more of his sketches to be seen on this web-site.