Glenkeen Bridge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A late-eighteenth / early-nineteenth-century three-arched masonry bridge carrying the Garvagh – Limavady road over the Mettican River. The right-bank (north) arch is dry in normal circumstances.
The bridge is constructed with random rubble blackstone throughout. Angled cutwaters on the up- and downstream ends of the piers, rising to arch spring level. The three arches are of segmental profile; the middle one being slightly higher, giving a slight curve to the deck.
The parapets have probably been rebuilt, judging by their slightly larger stonework compared with the spandrels. The N end of the W parapet has been rebuilt again in the relatively recent past. Both parapets are coped with concrete. A modern steel nameplate giving the name of the bridge and river is affixed to the north end of the upstream parapet.
The west wall of the approach road from south has been demolished by the impact of a car.

Setting
The bridge lies in the countryside, surrounded by fields to all sides.

Schedule:
Rubble blackstone construction

Historical information

An uncaptioned bridge is shown at this location on the 1832 OS six-inch map. It is recorded in the 1836 Ordnance Survey Memoir for Errigal Parish as a three-arched bridge, the spans of which are 10ft 6in, 10ft 6in and 9ft 4in. The road was 18ft 6in wide and the parapets 4ft 6in high. All was in good repair. The bridge is cited on the 1853 OS map and subsequent editions as Glenkeen Bridge.
The above dimensions correspond with those of the present bridge, implying that it is probably of later 18th or earlier 19th century date.

References - Primary sources:
1. PRONI OS/6/5/18/1, First edition OS six-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 18 (1832).
2. OS Memoir for Errigal Parish (1836). Reprinted as A. Day & P. McWilliams (eds), Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland: Parishes of County Londonderry VIII, 1830-9, East Londonderry, p.41 (Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994).
3. PRONI OS/6/5/18/2, Second edition OS six-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 18 (1853).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A later 18th or early 19th century three arched stone road bridge over the Mettican River. A substantial proportion of the parapets having been rebuilt and coped with concrete, the bridge is not of special architectural or historical interest.