In 1738 a small wooden drawbridge was erected over the River Foss at a cost of just over £100.The bridge is depicted in the 1756 print ‘Prospect of a Noble Terras Walk’ with a high pitched roof, which can be seen on the previous page. The blue bridge is so-called from the colour which it was painted. In 1858 the City of York was presented with two cannons captured from the Russians at Sebastopol during the Crimean War in 1855. The guns were mounted on stone slabs and inscribed with the names of York citizens who had died in the war. The guns and the inscription plates were removed and melted down during WWII as part of the war effort.