ALTHEELA BRIDGE BALLYPATRICK

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A skew-arched masonry road bridge of 1834 over a minor stream on the Cushendall - Ballycastle section of the A2 road.

The bridge is constructed in squared rubble mica schist brought to courses; in plan it is built to a slight curve. Its abutments, which are set at a slight angle to the face of the bridge, are embellished with rock-faced and margined sandstone quoins. The bed of the stream is pitched with stone to minimise scouring.

The arch is of semicircular profile and also accentuated with margined sandstone voussoirs. The faces on both sides of the arch are reinforced with shallow buttresses, which sweep down and away from the bridge. Unusually, their inner ends also curve inwards in the direction of the arch. The edge formed where the two curved surfaces meet is picked out in dressed sandstone. A sandstone string course of half-circle profile also runs across the bridge just above the crown of the arch.

The low parapets are coped with sloping sandstone blocks, with slightly raised square blocks at each end. Embedded in the road face of the downstream (E) parapet is a reconstituted stone plaque which reads 'Altheela/ Bridge". A short section of parapet coping immediately above this plaque has been replaced with cast concrete.

Short rubble masonry approach walls continue beyond the bridge parapets. Their original copings have also been replaced with cast concrete.

Setting:
This bridge lies between Corratavey Bridge (HB05/04/001) to the south and Bush Burn Bridge (HB05/04/003) to the north. Its surrounding landscape was originally open moorland but this has since been planted by Forestry Service with conifers.

Materials:
Walling Rubble mica schist
Dressings Sandstone

Historical information

The 1832 OS map shows a dotted line of road on which this bridge lies, with the caption "new road in progress 1833". This was a continuation of the Antrim Coast Road from Larne to Cushendall northwards to Ballycastle and which was constructed 1832-42 by the Scottish engineer William Bald for the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland. Although this bridge dates from 1834, this section of road was not fully completed until the autumn of 1835.

The original plaque on the bridge's parapet read "Avltheela/ 1834" (note that the 'v' signified a 'u'). Unfortunately the present replacement plaque, which dates from 2004-05, carries only its name (without the original 'v').

'Altheela Bridge' (again without the 'v') is explicitly captioned on all editions of the OS maps from 1857 onwards.

References - Primary Sources:
1. PRONI OS/6/1/9/1. OS 1:10,560 map, Co Antrim sheet 9 (1832).
2. 1835 Ordnance Survey Memoir for Culfeightrin Parish. Reproduced by A. Day & P. McWilliams (eds), Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland: Parishes of Co Antrim IX - North Antrim Coast and Rathlin, p.46 (Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994).
3. PRONI OS/6/1/9/2. OS 1:10,560 map, Co Antrim sheet 9 (1857).
4. PRONI OS/6/1/9/3. OS 1:10,560 map, Co Antrim sheet 9 (1903-04).
5. PRONI OS/6/1/9/4. OS 1:10,560 map, Co Antrim sheet 9 (1922).
6. DRD Road Service Report to Moyle District Council, p22 (Nov 2005).

References - Secondary Sources:
1. F.W. Hamond, Antrim Coast & Glens Industrial Heritage, p.77 (Belfast: HMSO, 1991).

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

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

Evaluation

A skew-arched masonry road bridge of 1834 over a minor stream on the Cushendall - Ballycastle section of the A2 road. Although a relatively small bridge, the quality of its construction is evident in the dressing of the schist and contrasting sandstone embellishments. The elegant curvatures on its abutments are also unusual features on so small a bridge. It also has group value with neighbouring bridges along this line of road: Craigacat Bridge (HB05/03/029), Corratavey Bridge (HB05/04/001), Bush Burn Bridge (HB05/04/003), and Altadreen Bridge (HB05/04/004). Much of the bridge's original fabric survives in an unaltered state. The association with the Antrim Coast Road scheme, the largest civil engineering project in Ireland in its day, enhances its historical interest. The new road and its associated bridges improved social and economic networking throughout the region and underline the bridge's local importance.