Former railway bridge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single span, largely rubble built, skewed road bridge of 1857-58 built to carry the Cahard Road over a stretch of the former Belfast & County Down Railway line. The line was removed in 1950. The bridge is located along Cahard Road, just under 3 miles NE of Ballynahinch.

The bridge is skewed and is mainly constructed in squared fieldstone, with sandstone coping to the parapets, brick voussoirs to the elliptical arch, a sandstone string course at road level and brick quoins to the parapets. Because of the skew, the underside of the arch is ‘stepped’ (or staggered). These ‘stepped’ arches also have brick voussoirs and a sandstone string course to each side.

The parapet coping is now partly rendered and a section of it (to the W side) has been replaced with concrete.

Historical information

This bridge was constructed in 1857-58 to carry what is now known as the Cahard Road over a new stretch of the Belfast & Co Down Railway Company’s line to Ballynahinch. The bridge was undoubtedly designed by the BCDR’s chief engineer, Sir John MacNeill and built by his principal contractor, Patrick Moore. The line closed in 1950.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/6/3/23/2 OS map, Down sh 23, 1858

Secondary sources
1 W.A. McCutcheon ‘The industrial archaeology of Northern Ireland’ (Belfast HMSO 1980), p.143 etc.
2 Desmond Coakham ‘The Belfast & County Down Railway’ (Midland Publishing Ltd. 1998)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
D. Plan Form
F. Structural System

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Single span, largely rubble built, skewed road bridge of 1857-58 built to carry Cahard Road over a stretch of the former Belfast & County Down Railway line. Of interest for its unusual construction with a number of stepped arches to its underside as well as its good prportion and scale. It is well built and well sited.