This historic picture of Damgate Bridge is from a book: "Picturesque Views of all the Bridges belonging to the County of Norfolk", published in 1831.

Francis Stone, an architect and surveyor, produced striking and detailed drawings of the bridges with artist David Hodgson. They created them on 84 lithographs for the acclaimed volume.

The bridge, spanning the River Tiffey, was a strategic entrance to the town and played a vital role on the road between Norwich and London. There was no bypass then! Damgate seems to have got its name from a dam at the bridge, which in earlier times had served the Abbot's mill, and when the Great Flood of 1912 subsided, part of a millstone was found there. During the flood, the houses of “Hubbard and Nicholls” adjoining the bridge disintegrated, and all their furniture was lost.

The bridge seems to have been in constant need of repair, and the surviving Town Book (c.1583 - c. 1622) has several entries for "amending" and "repayring" the bridge. With much work carried out in the 20th century, the bridge at Damgate is thankfully now much stronger and can cater for much heavier traffic than it could two hundred years ago.