Standing Building Recording

Date October 2011 - April 2012

Event ID 993866

Category Recording

Type Standing Building Recording

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/993866

NT 32695 64844 Lothianbridge (Newbattle Viaduct) This viaduct carried the Edinburgh to Carlisle ‘Waverley Route’ of the former North British Railway over the River South Esk and two public roads; the river here forms the boundary between the parishes of Cockpen, to the NW and Newbattle to the SE. Accredited to the engineer John Millar and opened in 1849, the railway viaduct consists of 23 semi-circular arches and is constructed of coursed rock-faced sandstone with brick voussoirs and soffits. The bridge also contains ashlar imposts with hood moulding over the arches. The parapet is tooled sandstone with ashlar copings and metal railings. Reinforcement using iron straps is present along the soffits and piers. The pier bases have projecting stonework and blind recessed arches infilled with coursed tooled sandstone. The last arch which is skewed over a road at the SE end, has stone voussoirs and flanking buttresses built of rock-faces stone. Two arches resting on a pier with deep curved ashlar cutwaters span the River South Esk. The 1852 OS Name Book mentions that the viaduct was built at an expense of £21,000. There was considerable debate over the financing of this extensive viaduct, a structure that was necessary in order to bridge the River South Esk and access the Lothian and Dundas collieries. The Marquis of Lothian was reluctant to spend the money and it was considered unsuitable for Dundas, who owned the Arniston estate, to pay (Worling 1991). It was eventually built at the expense of the Marquis of Lothian (Thomas 1971).

Archive: RCAHMS (intended). Report: East Lothian HER and RCAHMS

Funder: ERM Ltd on behalf of Transport Scotland

Graeme Carruthers, Mike Cressey, Magnus Kirby, Ian Suddaby - CFA Archaeology Ltd, 2013

(Source: DES)