Articlave Bridge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A skew-arched stone and brick bridge carrying the main Coleraine-Downhill road over the Articlave River a short distance east of the village of the same name.
The abutments are of squared rubble basalt, brought to courses and with a slightly advanced course along its base. The abutments are embellished with rusticated and margined quoins. There are narrow tapered buttresses to each side, with similarly detailed quoins. The arch is of segmental profile and also has similarly detailed voussoirs; its soffit is of skewly-laid brick. The spandrels are as the abutments. The parapet are of random rubble basalt coped with rusticated and margined sandstone blocks. There is considerable ivy grown at the SE end of the bridge.
The deck carries two lanes of traffic and a footpath along its north side.
The approach walls are of random rubble basalt. The western approach is much longer than the eastern one and is buttressed along its N side.
Approx 20m west of the bridge is a gap through the north parapet on the approach to an earthen ramp giving access to the field on the left bank immediately north of the bridge. The parapets make a downward quarter-turn on both sides of the gap. There is a wider opening on the opposite side of the road, with a ramp down to the field on this side; however, the parapet makes a downward turn on the river side of the gap only.
Just beyond these gaps in the parapets is a now-dry culvert which formerly carried a head race under the road to a flax mill some distance to the north of the bridge on the left bank. Its stonework is detailed as the main bridge and it also has a semicircular brick soffit. As this race cuts off the fields between it and the river, it was obviously necessary to have the two access ramps down to these fields.

Setting
The bridge lies a short distance east of Articlave, in open countryside with fields to all sides.

Schedule:
Basalt abutments and parapet
Sandstone dressings

Historical information

An uncaptioned bridge is shown at this location on the 1830 OS six-inch map, along with a small mill race under the road a short distance towards Articlave. The 1835 Ordnance Survey Memoir for Dunboe Parish records the road bridge as triple-arched bridge (two arches of 16ft span, the third at 7ft) on a 17ft wide road. As the present bridge has only one arch and the road is c.32ft wide at this point, the original bridge must therefore have been rebuilt, along with the culvert carrying the millrace.
The bridge is explicitly captioned as Articlave Bridge on the 1850 OS map and subsequent editions. Whilst it may well be of mid-19th century date, it could equally have been erected later in that century.

References - Primary sources:
1. PRONI OS/6/5/7/1, First edition OS six-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 7 (1830).
2. OS Memoir for Dunboe Parish (1835). Reprinted as A. Day & P. McWilliams (eds), Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland: Parishes of County Londonderry III, 1831-5, Roe Valley Lower, p.62 (Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1991).
3. PRONI OS/6/5/7/2, Second edition OS six-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 7 (1850).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A skew-arched stone and brick road bridge with associated millrace culvert, both probably of mid/later 19th century date. Whilst of some interest it is not of special architectural or historic interest.