Butterfly Bridge

The Butterfly Bridge was originally built in 1842 by John English, who worked as a stonemason on the old Scotswood Bridge. The bridge gained its name from Victorian entomologists for whom the bridge formed the entrance to the Gibside Estate. The upper part of the bridge was rebuilt in 1950. The bridge was damaged during flooding in 2008. It was replaced in 2011 with higher freeboard and no central pier to prevent reoccurance of the 2008 incident.During the construction of the new bridge, parts of the original abutments were recorded before dismantling. They included fragments of grindstones probably from the newarby Crowley Blade Mill. These have been left as mounting blocks at the side of the bridge.