Hamilton, Old Avon Road, Old Avon Bridge
Road Bridge (17th Century)
Site Name Hamilton, Old Avon Road, Old Avon Bridge
Classification Road Bridge (17th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Avon Water; Ferniegair
Canmore ID 45741
Site Number NS75SW 9
NGR NS 73322 54637
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/45741
- Council South Lanarkshire
- Parish Hamilton (South Lanarkshire)
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Hamilton
- Former County Lanarkshire
NS75SW 9 73322 54637
Old Avon Bridge (NR)
OS 1:10000 map, 1978.
Location formerly entered as NS 7332 5463.
For successor and present Avon Bridge (NS 73510 54768), see NS75SW 13.00.
EXTERNAL REFERENCE
National Library of Scotland - Nattes Drawings
1 Drawing of Avon Bridge. Vol I no 47.
1 Drawing of Dovecot and Hamilton. Vol 1 no 48.
(Undated) information in NMRS.
Avon Bridge was built before the 16th century and enlarged about the beginning of the present (18th) century.
OSA 1792
(Location cited as NS 733 547). Avon Bridge (old): 17th century. A handsome 3-span bridge of dressed stone construction, with 3-rib segmental arches and triangular cutwaters. Now carries a private road.
J R Hume 1976
This bridge (as stated by Hume) consists of three segmental arches, each of which has three chamfered ribs on its soffit; the piers separating the arches are each provided with cut-waters. The roadway averages 9ft in width; the parapet is modern. The abutments of the bridge show some evidence of rebuilding, especially that on the right bank, probably to accommodate a mill lade.
Visited by OS (AC) 8 May 1959.
This bridge carries the former line of a road across the River Avon to the S of Hamilton (NS75NW 44).
The location assigned to this record defines the midpoint of the structure. The available map evidence indicates that it extends from NS c. 73313 54652 to NS c. 73333 54618.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 25 May 2006.
Construction (1500 - 1599)
Project (2007)
This project was undertaken to input site information listed in 'Civil engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' by R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.
Publication Account (2007)
This ribbed-arch bridge over the Avon, about a mile from its confluence with the Clyde, was constructed in the
16th century. It is a three-arch dressed stone masonrystructure 144 ft long and of 10 ft 3 in. clear width between parapets. The main segmental arch spans vary from 3012 – 32 ft with a rise of 812 ft and the accommodation arch has a span of 10 ft. The piers are 9 ft wide and the road level is about 30 ft above the river bed. The bridge is now privately owned and restricted to pedestrian use. In 1825 it was bypassed by Avon Bridge (NS75SW 13.00)
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.
