Historic Buildings Record · Northern Ireland
Thornyford Bridge
Coolsallagh, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Northern Ireland
The record
- Designation
- Listed building, Grade B1
- Grade
- B1
- Type
- Bridge
- Date of listing
- 25 October 1977
- Date of construction
- 1760 - 1779
- Address
- Thornyford Bridge, Blackskull Road, Dromore, Co Down, BT27
- Townland
- Coolsallagh
- Council
- Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
- Country
- Northern Ireland
- Coordinates
- 54.42182, -6.21510
- Date of survey
- 23 November 2012
- HB reference
- HB17/13/022
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesUniversity Library, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 5 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1636 "Vltoniae Orientalis Pars" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
The Department's description
Exterior description and setting
Thornyford Bridge is a four-span masonry arch bridge which carries a minor road over the River Lagan.
The bridge is constructed with random rubble blackstone throughout. The four arches are of approximately the same size and have semicircular profiles, undressed voussoirs and gunited soffits. There are angled shallow cutwaters at both ends of the piers, rising to arch crown level and tapering off on the parapets. The parapets are coped with roughly squared stone blocks and splay out slightly at both ends. The carriageway has a slight curve and a water pipe is buried therein.
Two telegraph poles have been placed across the upstream face of the bridge to stop cattle wading downstream.
Setting
Rural in farmland; heavily wooded riverbanks. There is a drinking place for cattle on the south bank at the east side of the bridge.
Historical information
Taylor & Skinner’s 1777 map of Ireland shows a road crossing at this point. Although not mentioned in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs, it is captioned as Thornyford Bridge on all editions of the OS maps from 1834 onwards. Its plain appearance supports an 18th century date and it might well be the one on the 1770s’ map.
References – Primary sources:
1. A. Taylor & G. Skinner, Maps of the Roads of Ireland, p.285 (Dublin, 1777).
2. PRONI OS/6/3/20/1. First edition OS six-inch map, Co Down sheet 20 (1834).
3. PRONI OS/6/3/20/2. Second edition OS six-inch map, Co Down sheet 20 (1858).
4. PRONI OS/6/3/20/3. Third edition OS six-inch map, Co Down sheet 20 (1903).
Criteria for listing: architectural interest
A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
F. Structural System
J. Setting
Criteria for listing: historic interest
X. Local Interest
Evaluation
Thornyford Bridge is a four-span 18th century masonry arch road bridge over the River Lagan. It is a good example of 18th century bridge design – rubble masonry construction, angled cutwaters, relatively narrow carriageway, and lack of ornamentation.
Nearby in the register
- Islandderry HouseHouseunder 1 mi
- SPRINGFIELD HOUSEHOUSEunder 1 mi
- StablesFarm Buildingsunder 1 mi
- Gillhall (Gill Hall) Bridge, Dromore, Co DownBridgeunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.