Description:Photograph of the Essex Bridge taken in April 1998 after heavy rain. The meeting of the River Sow and River Trent can be seen through the two left hand arches. The River Sow is on the left.
There has been a bridge crossing the River Trent at Great Haywood since the sixteenth century. It was rumoured that the bridge was built by the Earl of Essex, to allow Queen Elizabeth I to visit him at Chartley Castle, without having to cross the forded river, but this is most probably romantic legend.
Originally named the Shugborough Bridge, the parapets were built low to avoid packhorse loads rubbing the stonework. The bays allowed pedestrians to stand to one side when a horse was passing.
In the eighteenth century the bridge had forty arches and extended into Shugborough Park. Today only fourteen arches remain.