The site is the location of an ancient crossing of the
River Dove, forming the boundary between Staffordshire and Derbyshire. In the 4th year of the reign of
Edward I (c. 1276) a jury presented findings to justices in
Eyre that the merchants of
Melbourne, Derbyshire, had for three years unjustly withheld the payment of tolls at the bridge, which affected the money available for repairs.
Edwyn Jervoise, an early 20th-century architectural historian, thought that the outer arches might date from the 14th century, though
Historic England currently believe them to be 15th century. A
hermitage was located at the bridge in the 17th century. Also during the 17th century freemason and alchemist
Elias Ashmole participated in a ceremony at the bridge to attempt to invoke spirits. The bridge was visited by
Daniel Defoe and the event recorded in his 1724–27 travelogue ''
A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain''. He notes that the locals referred to it as Dowbridge. Defoe reached the bridge on a journey from Derby to Uttoxeter and Ashbourne but his onward travel was prevented by rains that swelled the river and he instead returned to Derby to travel on to
High Peak. In the mid-19th century workmen found a large stag's horn, buried deep in the ground some downstream of the bridge. By 1858 the quarter sessions of Staffordshire and Derbyshire had agreed to share responsibility for maintenance of the bridge, which was administered by
justices of the peace. Significant repairs were carried out in spring 1864 with stones protecting the river bed under the bridge replaced. In 1874 the western-most arch was rebuilt, though the original ribbed design was not replicated. During this period the parapet was also rebuilt a number of times. These works were completed by around 1915. The road over the bridge came to be administered by the
Department of the Environment, as part of the
A50 trunk road. In 1975 the department awarded a £389,966 () contract to
Lehane, Mackenzie and Shand for the construction of a three-span replacement bridge to the south of the original structure. This was completed by late 1976, a second bridge was installed to the south as part of an upgrade to
dual carriageway status completed in 1998. The medieval bridge was retained and now carries pedestrians, cattle and local farm traffic. Until at least the mid-20th century the
River Tean joined the Dove upstream of Dove Bridge; it now joins immediately downstream of the new bridge. == References ==