Stannochy, South Esk Bridge
Road Bridge (19th Century)
Site Name Stannochy, South Esk Bridge
Classification Road Bridge (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) River South Esk; Stannochy Bridge; Brechin
Canmore ID 165953
Site Number NO55NE 45
NGR NO 58372 59111
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/165953
- Council Angus
- Parish Brechin
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Angus
- Former County Angus
NO55NE 45 58372 59111
Stannochy Bridge [NAT]
OS 1:10,560 map, 1970.
(Location cited as NO 584 592). South Esk Bridge, Stannochy, built 1825. A long single segmental arch with massive dressed-stone arch ring and rubble spandrels and wing walls.
J R Hume 1977.
This bridge carries the B9134 public road over the River South Esk to the SW of Brechin (NO56SE 40).
The location assigned to this record identifies the apparent midpoint of the structure. The available map evidence indicates that it extends from NO c. 58378 59119 to NO c. 58361 59098.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 7 June 2006.
Construction (1826)
Built 1826 and designed by James Smith.
Information from Paxton and Shipway, 2007, Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands.
Publication Account (2007)
This bridge, about 1 mile west of Brechin, crosses the South Esk with a single segmental arch of 100 ft span, one of the largest masonry spans in Scotland. It was built in 1826 by James Smith.Some details used in its construction are similar to those used at Marykirk Bridge and it is possible that Robert Stevenson was engineer for both or, at least, influenced the Stannochy design through its builder James Smith who may have been the brother of one of the contractors for Marykirk Bridge.
The voussoirs of the arch, constructed of local Brechin stone, are indented and are 3 ft 3 in. deep and 1 ft 3 in. wide. The roadway is level, but the curvature of the
projecting string course suggests that it may originally have risen from lower approaches either side of the bridge and that these were subsequently raised. There is a prominent archivolt on each elevation and the abutments have an attractive vertically-curved batter. It is a handsome and neatly detailed bridge that deserves to be better known.
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007b
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.
Publication Account (2013)
Built in 1826, a 100 foot span in a single arch by James Smith is among the largest achieved in stone.
M Watson, 2013
