Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders
Date 2007
Event ID 578275
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/578275
This historic bridge over the Nith built for Devorgilla, mother of John Baliol, one of the oldest in Scotland, originally dated from the mid 15th century, a date of ca.1431 has been mooted. Its width between parapets is 14 ft. The bridge originally had nine masonry arches of irregular spans and rises.
In 1619 the five arches on the west side were carried away in a flood, but rebuilt within a year; a tremendous
undertaking at a time when it was more usual to build one span each year and reuse the centring. In 1725 Gilbert Smith rebuilt the parapets. In 1828 the three arches at the eastern end of the bridge were removed. It is now used as a public footbridge. Very little of the bridge now dates from before 1620.
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.
