Acharacle, Old Shiel Bridge
Road Bridge (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Acharacle, Old Shiel Bridge
Classification Road Bridge (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Archaracle; Shiel Bridge, Old Shiel Bridge Over River Shiel
Canmore ID 22494
Site Number NM66NE 4
NGR NM 67396 69181
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/22494
- Council Highland
- Parish Arisaig And Moidart
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Lochaber
- Former County Inverness-shire
Shiel Bridge, 1899, engineers Blythe and Westland of Edinburgh An imposing three-spanned link between Moidart and Ardnamurchan which replaced Telford's neatly angled bridge of c.1804 just downstream when it was privatised by the neighbouring landowners.
Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
NM66NE 4 67396 69181
(NM 6740 6917) Old Shiel Bridge: This disused bridge spans the River Shiel some 460m downstream from the large bridge that replaced it in 1935. The approach from the SW or Argyll side of the river runs obliquely on to a small rocky promontory, leaving only a narrow gorge to be spanned, while the approach on the Moidart side is also angled to avoid a rock outcrop. Neatly constructed of lime-mortared rubble masonry, the bridge has an overall length of 17m and incorporates a single arch having a span of 9.6m and a height above water-level of 5.9m. The width of the roadway is 3.8m within 0.5m parapets.
The bridge was built under the auspices of the Commissioners for Highland Roads and Bridges soon after 1804, when a line of road from Corran Ferry to Kinlochmoidart was surveyed by William Cuming.
RCAHMS 1980, visited 1973.
