Barbican Bridge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Simple rubble stone ‘road’ bridge of 1713 with two segmental arches, stone parapets and pointed stone cutwater. The bridge, which originally carried the former main road from Larne over the Glenarm River, now allows access from Castle Street (in the east) to the ‘Barbican’ entrance to the Glenarm Castle demesne.

The bridge is constructed completely in rubble stone and has a slight off centre hump. There are two large segmental arches. The E and W faces of the bridge are largely identical. Each has a central cutwater which rises to the spring point of the arches and is then topped with a pyramidal cap. The cut waters each rest against a shallow buttress. The base appears to have been strengthened in recent years. The arches are segmental and are formed with roughly dressed stones. Stone parapets (which have no coping stones) to either side rise to a height of approximately 1.2 metres. Large sections of the parapets are now covered in ivy growth.

The structure has an asymmetrical appearance (when viewed side on) which could suggest that it was once somewhat longer but that land reclamation has shortened ts span.

Historical information

This bridge was built in 1713 at a cost £100, replacing a structure of 1682 which was swept away in a flood. Originally the bridge carried the main road from Larne (now The Vennel and Castle Street) over the Glenarm River to what is now the Straidkilly Road. To join the Straidkilly Road the road had to skirt close to Glenarm Castle and through what is now the Castle’s immediate grounds. This remained the case until 1813, when the present Glenarm Bridge was built a short distance to the north thus allowing traveller as to by pass the Castle grounds completely by going from the Vennel to Straidkilly via Toberwine Street. With building of the Coast Road in the mid 1830s it became possible to bypass the centre of the village completely.

In 1824-25, the old bridge having been superseded, the Countess of Antrim and her husband Edmund [Phelps] McDonnell, were able to add the ‘Barbican’ gate and walling to its west side, thus shutting off the demesne from traffic from Castle Street.

The odd asymmetrical shape of the bridge suggests it was longer, with land perhaps being reclaimed on both the east and west ends at some point [?and the course of the river straightened]. This suggestion is supported by the comment in the OS Memoirs of 1835 which mention ‘three semicircular arches’, but this comment is contradicted by John O’Hara’s map of 1779, which shows two arches!

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.2977 Antrim Papers
2 Thomas Milton ‘The seats and demesnes of the nobility and gentry in Ireland’ (1783) [Includes an illustration of Glenarm Castle and the bridge prior to the building of the ‘Barbican’.]
3 PRONI D.3560/3/1-7 Plans and elevations for proposed alterations to Glenarm Castle by Richard and William Vitruvius Morrison, c.1824 [This collection also includes watercolours of the castle by Morrison and plans for the ‘Barbican’ entrance.]
4 “The town and castle of Glenarm, Co. Antrim” [1830] by T.M. Baynes in ‘Ireland illustrated’ (London 1831)
5 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland…’ vol.13 [c.1830-35] ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1992), pp.123, 129-30
6 PRONI OS/6/1/29/1 OS map, Co Antrim sh 29, 1832-33

Secondary sources
1 Rev. George Hill, ‘An historical account of the MacDonnells of Antrim…’ (Belfast 1873)
2 C.E.B. Brett, ‘Historic buildings…Glens of Antrim’ (Belfast 1971), pp.11-13
3 Jimmie Irvine, “A map of Glenarm- 1779” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.9 (1981), pp.52-61
4 Hon. Hector McDonnell, “The building of the parish church at Glenarm” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.10 (1982), pp.31-36
5 Felix McKillop, ‘Glenarm- A local history’ (Glenarm 1987)
6 Mark Bence-Jones, ‘A guide to Irish county houses’ (London 1988), pp.117, 135-36
7 ‘The architecture of Richard Morrison and William Vitruvius Morrison (Irish Architectural Archive, Dublin 1989)
8 Cathal Dallat, ‘The road to The Glens’ (Belfast 1989), p.9
9 C.E.B. Brett, ‘The buildings of County Antrim’ (Belfast 1996), pp.100-102
10 S. Watson, ‘Inside Glenarm Castle’ (Antrim Estates Company, 1998)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
F. Structural System
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Simple rubble stone road bridge of 1713 with two segmental arches, stone parapets and pointed stone cutwater. The bridge, which originally carried the former main road from Larne over the Glenarm River, now allows access from Castle Street (in the east) to the ‘Barbican’ entrance to the Glenarm Castle demesne. It is possible that the bridge was originally somewhat longer, but was shortened due to land reclamation at both ends.

General comments

Previously recorded as HB06/02/004.