View from south Digital image of D 46941/cn

Description View from south Digital image of D 46941/cn

Date 23/6/1999

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 765059

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 46941 CN

Scope and Content Drumlanrig Bridge, Drumlanrig Estate, Dumfries & Galloway, from the south This splendid pink sandstone bridge consists of two round-headed arches with a central pier ending in triangular cutwaters with sloping tops. The parapets, added by Charles Howitt in 1860, are projected on continuous corbelling. On the north side of the river (centre) is Bridge Cottage, a mid-19th-century lodge built for the gate-keeper responsible for opening and closing the gate across the bridge which separated the estate from the main thoroughfare. The origins of the bridge are unknown but it possibly dates from the late 15th century and is certainly one of the oldest over the river. When the present castle was being built, the 1st Duke, having resolved to have a new single-arched bridge built about 1km further up the river at the end of the avenue leading to the front of his house, refused to repair it. However, the 2nd Duke, James Douglas, known as the 'Union Duke' because of his role in the Treaty of Union of 1707, gave instructions to William Lukup to begin a complete overhaul of the bridge in 1710. No further repairs were carried out for 150 years until 1860 when the bridge was 'put into a proper state' by the 7th Duke (5th Duke of Buccleuch). During the reconstruction it was discovered that the crown of the arches contained well-worn stairs, suggesting that the bridge had been used at one time to carry only foot passengers. Drumlanrig Bridge, a late medieval bridge which spans the River Nith, forms the main approach from the north-east to Drumlanrig Castle, one of the great Renaissance courtyard houses of Scottish domestic architecture. The castle, built between 1679 and 1690 for William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, incorporates part of a mid-16th-century house and the remains of a late 14th-century Douglas stronghold which originally stood on the site. The bridge was reconstructed in 1710 by William Lukup, the Master of Works (builder) who built the castle, and again in 1860 by Charles Howitt, Clerk of Works at Drumlanrig. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/765059

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap