Archaeology Notes

Event ID 728832

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/728832

NH82SE 9 86989 22008

Sluggan Bridge [NAT]

OS 1:10,000 map, 1982

Giant semi-circular arch of c. 75' span. Long approaches and steep roadway. No parapets. 18th century, replacing previous Wade 2-arch bridge destroyed by flood.

SDD List, 1964.

This bridge has a span of 19.5 yds (17.8m) and a rise of half that above flat ground on both sides. It is approximately 14 ft (4.3m) wide, without its parapets, and is built of coursed rubble with thin slab voussoirs; the long wing walls on the N side join the spanderls with a clearly visible join.

The bridge cannot be precisely dated. It is not that built by Wade (although on the line of his road), and has probably been rebuilt and patched several times. It is variously said to have been rebuilt after the 1829 floods, to have been left undamaged by the same floods, and to have been abandoned between 1798 and 1813 when the road was realigned by the Parliamentary Commissioners; this latter seems most probable.

G Nelson 1990.

This bridge carries the (former) line of the military road from Dunkeld to Inverness (Lin 501) across the River Dulnain, within the parish of Duthil and Rothiemurchus.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 20 March 1997.

NH 869 220 A watching brief was maintained on the extensive repairs to the dilapidated, 18th-century Sluggan Bridge, a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The site lies on a disused Wade Road, in woods 3km W of Carrbridge. The bridge route is to be included in the new national cycle network.

It is believed that the bridge, originally with two arches, was destroyed by floods and rebuilt with one arch. The internal fabric of the bridge showed parts of the original structure with infilling of river cobbles in sand. It was also observed that the base of the arch on the W side was set up on a framework of oak beams. On the N side of the western approach removal of wall collapse and overburden revealed stonework of the original wall of the bridge. The wall was seen to terminate in a slight outward curve, thus showing the length of the original bridge.

Archive to be deposited in the NMRS.

Sponsor: Sustrans.

R Cachart 2002