Arch Brae Bridge & Embankment, Deer Park, Florence Court, Co Fermanagh

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

An 18th century stone bridge within a inclined stone embankment bordering the north-east corner of the deer park at Florence Court. The embankment, now derelict and overgrown, once carried the old Coach Road, while the bridge permitted access below the road from the Old Deer Park on the east (now Tullyhona Wood) into the Deer Park on the west.

The embankment, which borders Florence Court and Deer Park townlands, is c.80 metres long and c.5 metes wide, and rises to a maximum of c.4 m above the ground surface. It carried the old Coach Road southward towards the mountain and also served as part of the boundary of the Deer Park on its east side. The battered side walls of the embankment, composed of random rubble, are given additional support each side by stone buttresses, while the road itself was delimited each side by parapets c.80cm high.

The bridge through the embankment comprises a single three-centred arch, with span of 3.40m metres, a height of 2.45 m to underside of crown and springs from abutments which average 1.30 m high. It has a length of 4.93 m through the embankment. The soffit is of split Carboniferous sandstone rubble, and the spandrels and abutments of roughly dressed masonry (of the same material) in irregular courses. The voussoirs are of finely dressed stone. Some of the stone vaulting has fallen in slightly.

On the east side of the archway there are a pair of chamfered masonry gateposts, 1.80 m high, one of which is broken. It still carries a wrought iron gate. Until recent years a wooden gate had been set across the west or deer park side of the archway.

A short distance to the north of the archway and set within the embankment there was formerly another bridge, now blocked with stone rubble. It its original state this archway also had a span of 2.50 metres, with abutments 1.40 m high supporting a three-centred stone arch 1.92m high.

Historical information

The demesne of Florence Court was originally laid out in 1719-20 - and this early formal layout is shown on F. Mulvihill's 1768 demesne map. At that time the deer park extended as far as Gorteen Wood and the old coach road had not yet been built. It has not been established exactly when the Old Coach Road was constructed, but the road is shown on D. McKimm's 1814 map of the demesne and again of the first OS 1834 map edition. While some alterations were made to McKimms map at a later period, there is little doubt that the road was present here in 1814. From the appearance of the bridge it is likely that it was constructed at the same time as the Eel House Bridge and the Gorteen Bridge, both of which are evidently contemporary with the creation of the landscape park in the 1770s.

The building of the roadway, with its embankment, resulted in the separation of the area east of the road from the main body of the park. On McKimm's 1814 map this area to the east, now Tullyhonna Wood, is labelled 'the Old Deer Park'. It is possible that the embankment and its archway was originally built to allow deer to cross from one section of the deer park to the other by passing under the road. However, the presence of cut stone voussoirs makes its clear that the archway was also originally built to allow a carriageway to pass from the east side (the Old Deer Park) into the Deer park proper. This carriageway remained in use until the mid 20th century. It is not clear when the 'Old Deer Park' on the east side of the embankment was abandoned as a functioning deer park, but this had certainly happened by the 1830s when the OS map shows the area, now largely under trees, had been incorporated into the landscape park area. Once this happened gates would have had to be installed on the archway to prevent deer escaping. The public road was carried by the embankment until the 1960s when it was moved to run alongside the west side of the embankment where it remains.

References
F. Mulvihill. Map 1768. PRONI T2094/2A
D. McKimm. 1814 Demesne Map. PRONI T2094/3A.
Reeves-Smyth T (1990) Florence Court Demesne. Three Volumes (Vol. 3, p178). National Trust: Unpublished.
Hamond, F. W. (1996) HB Inspection Report 8-9-1996.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

The architectural character of the archway is enhanced by its use of a three centred rather than segmental arch and some effort has been made at its embellishment by the execution of the voussoirs. It's main interest lies in its former use, serving as the boundary of the deer park and as a means to carrying the road through the park. It also permitted visitors to the deer park to avoid having to cross the public road. Forest Service planting now completely obscures the area, but this bridge and embankment, which are unusual features in their own right, survive as an important functional vestige of the area's former use.

General comments

Request for survey of this structure and listing came from Dr. M. H. Gould in a letter to Laurence Manogue, then Senior Architect with HMB on 14th April 1996. In response HMB requested Dr. Fred Hamond, Industrial Archaeologist, to provide a report on the structure, submitted 12th September 1996. He recommended a Grade B2.