Glasgow Bridge, Forth and Clyde Canal, Swing Bridge View from S showing former stables Digital image of D/58858/cn

Description Glasgow Bridge, Forth and Clyde Canal, Swing Bridge View from S showing former stables Digital image of D/58858/cn

Date 29/9/1999

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

Catalogue Number SC 793010

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 58858 CN

Scope and Content Canal Buildings, Forth & Clyde Canal, Glasgow Bridge, East Dunbartonshire, from south This view looking across the deck of the bridge shows the canal buildings which were built around 1820. The seven-bayed main block has a projecting central bay which is surmounted by a triangular pediment with a blind oculus (circular window). The windows are arched and have been recently decorated with window boxes. These canal buildings were originally stables where the horses which were used to pull the 'lighters' (barges) were fed, watered and rested. The stables were in a ruinous condition in 1970 but were converted in the late 20th century into a bar and restaurant. The bridge in the foreground was opened in 1990 and replaced a 1970s culvert. The Forth & Clyde Canal was built between 1768 and 1790. It could have been completed sooner but funds ran out in 1777 and more money was not found by the government until 1784. John Smeaton (1724-92) was the designer and first chief engineer for the project. He was replaced in 1777 by Robert Mackell (d.1779), and in 1785 Robert Whitworth (1734-99) took over the building of the final section of the canal from Glasgow. When the canal was completed in 1790 it ran from the River Forth at Grangemouth, in the east, to Bowling on the River Clyde in the west of Scotland. The canal was linked to Edinburgh when the Union Canal was opened in 1822. The Forth & Clyde Canal was closed in 1963 and the Union Canal in 1965 and the construction of new roads meant that it was impossible for boats to travel along the full length of these watercourses. However, the £84.5m Millennium Link project enabled the canals to reopen in 2002. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/793010

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap