Field Visit
Date June 1984
Event ID 1082617
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1082617
This small two-arched bridge now carries a farm road across the Leacann Water, 1.8km N of Furnace and 0.5km SE of Brenchoillie farmhouse. There were at least two bridges spanning the Leacann by 1744, when the 'Laigh Bridge' was first mentioned, while in 1756 the Commissioners of Supply approved a proposal by the Argyll Furnace Company for a new bridge, possibly on the present site. At this period there was much discussion about road-lines in the area, but by the end of the 18th century the main road S of Auchindrain appears to have diverged from the present A83 about 150m NE of the Brenchoillie bridge (NN 024019), running along the hillside above the E bank of the Leacann Water to a bridge in Furnace village (en.1*).
The bridge at Brenchoillie, which linked this road with the routes from Lochaweside (No. 274), appears to reflect the influence of Mylne's Aray Bridge design of 1773 (No. 255), and was probably built in the last quarter of the 18th century. The bridge, which is built of lime-mortared rubble-masonry, measures 19m in length including the approaches, and carries a roadway 3.6m wide within 0.5m parapet-walls. The segmental E and W arches have respective spans of 4.6m and 4.3m, and each measures about 1.9m to the soffit from water-level, the voussoirs being formed by thin slabs about 0.6m long. Above the triangular cutwaters on both faces of the central pier there are circular recesses 1m in diameter and 0.2m in depth.
RCAHMS 1992, visited June 1984
