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Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016156
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016156
From c 1810 iron came to be used for bridge-building in Scotland, alongside stone: first of all cast-iron, later steel girders. Iron was also used to manufacture suspension cables or chains; at Hutton the chain links were forged from iron bars, though from mid-century iron plate was used.
The Union Chain Bridge was built in 1820 by Royal Navy Captain Samuel Brown, the first large suspension bridge in Britain and predating the Menai
Suspension Bridge in North Wales. It is the largest of three similar bridges in the Borders - the others are at Kalemouth, 1820-30 (NT 708274) and the footbridge at Melrose, 1826 (NT 545346). Strong iron rods connect the 3 sets of iron link chains each side to a light wooden deck, and the chains rise up either end to impressive pylons of well-dressed stone. When the
bridge was strengthened in 1902-3, a wire-rope cable and wire-rope suspender linked to steel reinforcements were added each side of the decksome 112 m long, 5.5 m wide and 8.2 m above the river. The carriageway is flanked by attractive wroughtiron railings.
Before the 4-span Ladykirk-Norham bridge was built in 1885-87, the Union Bridge was the only crossing of the Tweed between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Coldstream, other than by ferry or ford. There are former toll-houses, single-storeyed, on the Scottish side of both bridges.
Just north of the bridge, on the Scottish bank (NT 933510), lies a typical Tweed salmon fishery. Dating from the early 19th century, it consists of wooden netdrying supports, a single-storey hut with extensions for stowing gear and a stone-built, vaulted ice-house.
Information from 'Exploring Scotland's Heritage, Lothian and Borders' (1985).
