1683 Trent flood

Natural disaster in England thumb|Surviving arches of the old Trent Bridge The River Trent valley in Nottinghamshire, England, suffered from a major flood in 1683. The floods followed a lengthy cold period and were formed from melting snow and broken river ice. The ice floes swept away much of Hethbeth or Trent Bridge at Nottingham and the Town Bridge at Newark-on-Trent. Description The floods followed a lengthy cold period with freezing weather lasting from September 1682 until February 1683.Lowe Edward Joseph Natural phenomena and chronology of the seasons 1870 Bell and Daldy 82 https://books.google.com/books?id=SS8BAAAAQAAJ en 2024-08-21 2024-08-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20240822004415/https://books.google.com/books?id=SS8BAAAAQAAJ live Nottinghamshire suffered regular and heavy snowfalls during this period.Smart Andy The day when Christmas revellers skated on a frozen River Trent https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/history/christmas-revellers-skated-frozen-river-2299279 8 August 2024 Nottinghamshire Live 7 December 2018 en 22 August 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240822004248/https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/history/christmas-revellers-skated-frozen-river-2299279 live The thawing of snow and breaking up of river ice caused significant flooding on 5 and 6 February, affecting the entire Trent valley.Tarbotton Marriott Ogle History of the Old Trent Bridge, with a Descriptive Account of the New Bridge, Nottingham 1871 Richard Allen and Son 8 https://books.google.com/books?id=Jh83AQAAMAAJ en 2024-08-21 2024-08-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20240822004247/https://books.google.com/books?id=Jh83AQAAMAAJ live Club Woolhope Naturalists' Field Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club 1871 Jakeman and Carver 83 https://books.google.com/books?id=IfcHAAAAQAAJ en 2024-08-21 2024-08-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20240822004253/https://books.google.com/books?id=IfcHAAAAQAAJ live At this time the Hethbeth or Trent Bridge at Nottingham consisted of more than twenty stone piers covered by a wooden deck.Hall Marshall G. Medieval Bridges of Middle England 15 March 2024 Windgather Press 978-1-914427-30-5 69 https://books.google.com/books?id=-Y3xEAAAQBAJ en 21 August 2024 22 August 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240822004337/https://books.google.com/books?id=-Y3xEAAAQBAJ live The bridge was badly damaged by ice floes moving down the river and much of the northern half was swept away.Labrum E. A. Civil Engineering Heritage: Eastern and central England 1994 Thomas Telford 978-0-7277-1970-6 37 https://books.google.com/books?id=Offfz1NSDt0C en Downstream at Newark-on-Trent the Town Bridge was also swept away and the riverside fields flooded.Fort Tom Downstream 2008 Century 978-1-84605-169-2 68 https://books.google.com/books?id=s-gLAQAAMAAJ enBritain Geological Survey of Great Memoirs of the Geological Survey: England and Wales. ... 1911 H.M. Stationery Office 60 https://books.google.com/books?id=HcYoAQAAMAAJ enBrown (F.R.S.L.) Cornelius The Annals of Newark-upon-Trent: Comprising the History, Curiosities, and Antiquities of the Borough 1879 H. Sotheran & Company 195 https://books.google.com/books?id=oO4VAAAAYAAJ en The damage at nearby Holme, Nottinghamshire, and North Muskham, Lincolnshire, was witnessed by Thomas Winnard who composed a poem beginning "when heirs and widows hoarding fresh supplies/Bottle up tears wrung from St. Swithin's eyes", Swithin being the patron saint of weather. Aftermath The Nottingham Corporation appointed a committee to rebuild the bridge. The work, carried out in 1684, installed stone arches. The number of spans in the river was reduced to 15, over a distance of around 538 ft; when taken with an adjacent roadway support structure and two flood-relief arches the overall length was 205 m, somewhat shorter than the structure it replaced. .Tarbotton Marriott Ogle History of the Old Trent Bridge, with a Descriptive Account of the New Bridge, Nottingham 1871 Richard Allen and Son 8 https://books.google.com/books?id=Jh83AQAAMAAJ en The piers of the first five arches, and possibly a further two, were rebuilt completely as part of the works. The remaining piers, which had been rebuilt around the time of the English Civil Wars, were judged to be in satisfactory condition. Two arches from the 1683 reconstruction survive in a modern traffic island near the bridge, which was demolished and rebuilt from 1871.Fisher Stuart British River Navigations: Inland Cuts, Fens, Dikes, Channels and Non-tidal Rivers 19 December 2013 A&C Black 978-1-4729-0084-5 69 https://books.google.com/books?id=9WwDAAAAQBAJ en 21 August 2024 28 August 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230828085905/https://books.google.com/books?id=9WwDAAAAQBAJ live Newark's Town Bridge had been rebuilt by 1700 with a wooden deck spanning the surviving stone piers.Jackson Sean Joynes Stephen Wood Harvey The River Trent, Newark Island: Drainage and Weather, their Role in the Defence of Newark on Trent during the Third Siege of 1645 – 1646. https://www.cleanriverstrust.co.uk/the-river-trent-newark-island/ Clean Rivers Trust 8 August 2024 31 March 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220331014311/https://www.cleanriverstrust.co.uk/the-river-trent-newark-island/ live References Category:1683 disasters Category:1680s natural disasters Category:1683 in England Category:Natural disasters in England Category:17th-century floods Category:River Trent