History
A Roman fort and associated vicus (ancient name unknown) were located here.
Greta Bridge is mentioned in Charles Dickens's novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby as the site of Dotheboys School. Dickens mentions the "George and New Inn, Greta Bridge". This is thought to be a conflation of two coaching inns in or near Greta Bridge.
The link here is the publican "George Martin" who first of all ran the inn called the "George and Dragon" to the West of the River Greta, he then moved to the original "Morritt's Arms" built on the East bank of the River Greta as a coaching inn by the Morritt family of Rokeby,in approx 1756, and he renamed it "The George" as recorded by Dickens (maybe having left his "dragon" behind at the present Morritt Arms!) Later, Martin moved to be landlord of The New Inn a mile to the east of Greta Bridge and re named that "The George and New Inn". Source; Peter Gilbertson of The Coach House, Greta Bridge.
The famous painting Rokeby Venus by Diego Velázquez was originally housed at Rokeby Hall, near Greta Bridge.
1 mile north is Mortham Tower, a fortified manor house dating from the 14th century, with a 15th century tower.
Read more about this topic: Greta Bridge
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“The principle that human nature, in its psychological aspects, is nothing more than a product of history and given social relations removes all barriers to coercion and manipulation by the powerful.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“Gossip is charming! History is merely gossip. But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)