White Arch

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A highly-skewed bridge of 1873 which formerly carried the single-track Glenariff Mineral Railway over the Antrim Coast Road. Although its name suggests that it was arched, it actually had a horizontal span (either a metal or timber beam) The span is long gone, leaving only its masonry abutments on both sides of the road.

The abutments are of squared limestone rubble, brought to courses and snecked in places. The quoins are of roughly dressed limestone blocks with similarly detailed copings across the top of each abutment. The limestone terminal piers of the span's parapets also survive.

The landward abutment (on the S side of the road) has a wing wall at each end, aligned parallel with the road. That at its W end is straight, but the one at E curves inwards. Both are coped with squared limestone blocks and terminate in square piers.
The seaward abutment (on the N side of the road) is triangular in plan with a hollow centre which is accessed through a semicircular arch on its NW face. Its blank NE face would originally have been hidden by the embankment.

The space inside the abutment is now open to the sky but would have been decked with railway sleepers originally. Part of the floor of this void is now pitched with rubble basalt set in cement - a later addition which continues along the base of wall on the road's seaward side to counteract wave erosion.

Setting:
This bridge is a short distance E of a terrace of two-storey limestone houses originally belonging to the Glenariff Mining Co (HB05/01/006A and B). The former loco shed survives at the E end of this terrace (now a community hall). A short length of railway embankment survives on the landward side of the bridge. On the seaward side, the embankment would have been level with the top of the abutment, but is long washed away. However, it survives further along to E, running parallel with the road and clearly evident up to a modern carpark. Beyond this car park are the wave-battered remnants of the pier once served by the railway.

Historical information

This bridge is on the line of a 2½ mile long narrow-gauge mineral railway opened by the Glenariff Iron Ore & Harbour Company in 1873 to convey ore mined at Cloghcor, in the upper reaches of Glenariff, to the purpose-built Milltown Pier. Here the ore was loaded on to ships for export to Britain for smelting. This line has the distinction of being the first 3ft (narrow) gauge line in Ireland.

Mining ceased within three years and the line became defunct. An attempt to revive it in 1880 failed and it was officially abandoned in 1885. The actual track and rolling stock were advertised for sale in September of that year and the track was eventually lifted.
Although the bridge is not explicitly cited on any OS map, the line is captioned as 'Mineral railway (disused)' on the 1903 and 1921 editions. Nothing is shown on the 1973 map except for 'Old Pier'.

References - Primary Sources:
1. Belfast News Letter, 13 September 1875. .
2. PRONI OS/6/1/20/3. OS 1:10,560 map, Co Antrim sheet 20 (1903).
3. PRONI OS/6/1/20/4. OS 1:10,560 map, Co Antrim sheet 20 (1921).
4. PRONI OS/11/25/14/1. OS 1:2500 map, Irish Grid sheet 25-14 (1973).

References - Secondary Sources:
1. E.M. Patterson, 'The Ballymena Lines', pp 15-27 (Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1968).
2. A. McCutcheon, Railway History in Pictures: Ireland Volume 1, p.67 (Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1969).
3. F.W. Hamond, Antrim Coast & Glens Industrial Heritage, pp 23, 84 (Belfast: HMSO, 1991).
4. S. Johnson, Johnson's Atlas & Gazetteer of the Railways of Ireland, p.133 (Leicester: Midland Publishing, 1997).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
F. Structural System
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

This bridge is on the line of a 2½ mile long narrow-gauge mineral railway opened by the Glenariff Iron Ore & Harbour Company in 1873 to convey ore mined at Cloghcor, in the upper reaches of Glenariff, to Milltown Pier, the remnants of which remain off-shore to the north of the abutments. From here the ore was loaded on to ships for export to Britain for smelting. This line has the distinction of being the first 3ft (narrow) gauge line in Ireland. Although its span is long gone, the abutments of this structure are a good example of a highly-skewed railway bridge and comprise original, unaltered fabric. Despite their utilitarian function, they display architectural embellishment, notably in the arch on its seaward side. The bridge's plan form is unusual in that it has an accessible space behind its seaward abutment. The partial survival of the former track bed on both sides enhances its prominent setting along the Coast Road. The bridge is of local historical interest because of its association with the earliest narrow-gauge railway in Ireland, and it has group value with the nearby Glenariff Mining Company cottages (HB05/01/006A & B).