[2] The previous bridge on the site was demolished in 1868 to enable larger ships to move upstream to William Armstrong's works.

[3] The hydraulic Swing Bridge was designed and paid for by Armstrong, with work beginning in 1873.

[5] The hydraulic power still used to move the bridge is today derived from electrically driven pumps.

[4] It has an 281 ft (85.6 m) cantilevered span with a central axis of rotation able to move through 360° to allow vessels to pass on either side of it.

[6] The busiest year of operation was 1924 when the bridge was rotated 6,000 times unlike current use where it is only required to turn occasionally to allow yachts and pleasure craft to pass by and on the first Wednesday of each month as a maintenance exercise.