Cooper's-mill, situated upon the verge of the parishes of Afton and
Birmingham, 400 yards below this bridge, was probably first erected in
the the peaceable ages of Saxon influence, and continued a part of the
manorial estate 'till the disposal of it in 1730.
Before the water was pounded up to supply the mill, it must have been so
shallow, as to admit a passage between Digbeth and Deritend, over a few
stepping stones; and a gate seems to have been placed upon the verge of
the river, to prevent encroachments of the cattle.
This accounts for the original name, which Dugdale tells us was
_Derry-yate-end:_ derry, low; yate, gate; end, extremity of the parish;
with which it perfectly agrees.
The mill afterwards causing the water to be dammed up, gave rise to a
succession of paltry bridges, chiefly of timber, to preserve a
communication between the two streets.
But in later ages, the passage was dignified with those of stone. In
1750, a wretched one was taken down, and the present bridge erected by
Henry Bradford and John Collins, overseers of the highway, consisting of
five arches; but the homely style, the deep ascent, and the
circumscribed width prevents encomium.