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Old Bridge Of Awe
Road Bridge (18th Century)
Site Name Old Bridge Of Awe
Classification Road Bridge (18th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Bridge Of Awe, Taynuilt; River Awe; Fanans
Canmore ID 81874
Site Number NN02NW 14
NGR NN 03083 29810
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/81874
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Glenorchy And Inishail (Argyll And Bute)
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NN02NW 14 03083 29810
Old Bridge of Awe [NAT]
OS 1:10,000 map, 1975.
Location formerly entered as NN 0307 2981 and NN 03062 29809.
For (present and successor) New Bridge of Awe (adjacent to N), see NN02NW 44.
Three-arched bridge; construction completed in 1779. Original structure remains substantially intact, though much of the rubble stonework has been refaced in the 20th century.
RCAHMS 1975, visited July 1970.
(Location cited as NN 031 299). Bridge of Awe, completed 1779. A 3-span rubble bridge with segmental arches and triangular cutwaters. Bypassed in 1938.
J R Hume 1977.
This bridge carries the former line of the A85 public road over the River Awe to the N of Fanans steading. The river here forms the boundary between the parishes of Glenorchy and Inishail (to the W) and Ardchattan and Muckairn (to the E).
The location assigned to this record defines the approximate midpoint of the structure. The available map evidence suggests that it extends from NN c. 03054 29807 to NN c. 03122 29813.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 18 May 2006.
Construction (1779)
Built. Builder unknown.
Information from Paxton and Jim Shipway 2007b, 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands' .
Field Visit (July 1970)
NN 030 297. This fine three-arched bridge (Pl.119A) spans the River Awe about 100 m upstream from the present road-bridge that replaced it in 1938. Construction was completed in 1779, and the original structure remains substantially intact although much of the rubble stonework has been refaced during the present century.
The 18th-century road from Dalmally to Bonawe crosses the bridge from E to W. The overall length of the bridge and approaches is 72 m, the length spanned by the three segmental arches is 50 m, and the spans of the individual arches, from E to W, measure 13.6 m, 15'2 m and 14'2 m respectively. At its highest point, above the central arch, the top of the parapet is 8'2 m above water-level; the height to the arch-soffit is 6'5 m. The roadway has a width of 4'2 m between parapets 0'38 m in thickness. There are refaced triangular cutwaters on both sides of the central piers.
In 1776 the Commissioners of Supply for Argyll applied to the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates for financial assistance to bridge the River Awe. They claimed that, since the river could seldom be forded, Lorn, Morvern and the Islands were cut off from the road via Dalmally to Stirling, which was the best route to Crieff cattle-fair. Local landowners had contributed £400 of the £600 required, and the Forfeited Estates Board agreed to supply the balance. Work was well advanced in 1778, when the central part of the bridge was swept away by a flood while the centering was in place for forming the arches. Despite this mishap, the bridge was completed in the following year (SRO, Forfeited Estates Papers, E 728/29/nos. 16 and 20; ibid, E 727/34/14; Smith, General View, 276-7).
RCAHMS 1975, visited July 1970
Publication Account (2007)
Although only the west arch and approaches of this bridge now remain, they are a substantial local reminder of the spirit of road improvement abroad in Scotland during the second half of the 18th century, partly financed by the proceeds of the Forfeited Estates after the Jacobite rebellions.
This bridge, carrying the Dalmally to Bonawe road across the Awe, was built in 1778–79 at a location subject to sudden intense floods. Whilst being built in 1778, a flood carried away the centring of the centre span, but the bridge was completed in 1779. It had three segmental rubble masonry arches of 45 ft, 59 ft and 47 ft span from east to west and the roadway is 1334 ft wide. The names of the designer and builder have not been found.
The bridge, partly destroyed by a flood on 2 January 1990, was bypassed in 1938 by the present bridge about 100 yards downstream carrying the A85 road.
R Paxton and Jim Shipway 2007b
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland Highlands and Islands
