Monument record MDR4560 - Roman Bridge (site of), Little Chester, Derby

In c. 1962 members of the Derby Sub Aqua Club searched the bed of the Derwent for a ford opposite the fort and for remains of the bridge shown on William Stukeley's plan of 1721. They confirmed that there was a ford and a bridge of unknown date. (1). In 1968 the piers of the Roman bridge of Little Chester were located and measured by M Brassington after a fall in the water level of the River Derwent. The exact position of the bridge to the west of the fort, is the same as shown by Stukeley on his plan of Little Chester of 1721. The Stukeley map marks two stone piers in the river, and their presence has been confirmed by skin divers. The timber superstructure is an assumption but it seems more likely than three masonry arches of large span. There were two piers, oval in shape and 16ft long. An unusual feature was that the debris of the piers lay on the river bed upstream; it is suggested that stone robbing in the 18th century might account for this. (2, 3)