Bonnington Linn, Foot Bridge
Footbridge (19th Century)
Site Name Bonnington Linn, Foot Bridge
Classification Footbridge (19th Century)
Canmore ID 228186
Site Number NS84SE 260
NGR NS 88364 40642
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/228186
- Council South Lanarkshire
- Parish Lanark
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Clydesdale
- Former County Lanarkshire
Single-span, segmental-arch cast-iron footbridge. Flat deck with slightly tapered parapet railings.
The bridge is presumed to be that built for Lady Mary Ross, who replaced the dovecot which stood on the islands to which the bridge leads with a 'fog house', a kind of summerhouse which was lined with moss (no longer extant). The Wordsworths visited the site in 1803 and Dorothy Wordsworth described the interior of the fog house as 'like the inside of a bird's nest'. (Historic Scotland)
Desk Based Assessment (18 September 2017)
A single-span segmental-arch cast-iron footbridge was built in 1829 to replace a timber bridge that connected the rocky outcrop near the centre of Bonnington Linn on the River Clyde to the east bank. It is presumed to have been built for Lady Mary Ross, who, with her husband General Sir Charles Ross, implemented many improvements to Bonnington estate during the period 1800 to 1830, creating a designed landscape which included viewpoints, paths and garden buildings. It is an early example of cast-iron work and the only known example to have been built by Patersons of Carmichael, whose foundry was located near Hyndford Bridge. The bridge, which measures 30ft (9.1m) in length by 2.5 ft (0.75m) in width and is now missing its wooden decking, handrail and part of its balustrade, once allowed access to a 17th century dovecot that Lady Ross is reported to have adapted into a thatched temple (NS84SE367).
Information from HES Survey and Recording (AMC) 18 September 2017
