Railway Bridge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Double-arched stone bridge, erected c.1850, set on a north/south axis, carrying the Belfast to Carrickfergus railway line over the Whitehouse Park Road (north) and the Whitehouse River (south) (Glas-na-Cradan).

Coursed squared and tooled basalt walls rising to tooled sandstone ashlar coping and steel railings over. Curved embankment walls to either end descending at a 45 degree angle with sandstone coping to the slopes. Pair of round arches with rock-faced sandstone ashlar voussoirs having tooled margins, terminating to an impost course (impost course to north obscured by footpath). Rough-hewn coursed sandstone to both archivolts. Bitmac road to north arch with a bitmac footpath and concrete kerbing to the north side.

Walling: Squared basalt rubble

Setting

Off the Shore Road near to the coast in a suburban area; the roadway through the north arch follows the shoreline of the estuary to the west.

Historical information

The railway line and arch are first shown on the second edition OS map of 1857. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 records the owner of the railway as the ‘Belfast and Northern Counties Railway’, (Charles Stuart, Secretary).

J.R.L Currie in his book ‘The Northern Counties Railway:1845-1903’, states that on the 26th April 1836 prospects were issued for the “north eastern railway from Belfast to Ballymena (which would go) by the Whitehouse shore, Templepatrick and Antrim with power to make a branch to Carrick Fergus...” (Currie, p. 25). By 1847, stations were erected on the main line at Greencastle, Whiteabbey, Carrickfergus. He also states that the “condition of Whiteabbey Station caused concern to the Rev Mr Bland…[in] 1863 [and a]….new station [was] authorised at [a] cost of £300.”

References:

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/57/2 - Second Edition OS Map (1857)
2. PRONI VAL/2/A/1/57 - Griffith’s Valuation Map (1857)
3. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/13A+B – Griffith’s Valuation Fieldbook (1859)

Secondary Sources
1. J. R. L Currie. ‘The Northern Counties Railway:1845-1903, Vol ‘; David & Charles; Newtownabbey, 1973

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

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An unusual double-arched bridge displaying high quality stonemasonry in which both basalt and sandstone are employed. The crossing of rail, road and river at one site makes this a significant piece of nineteenth century infrastructure while also creating an entrance to the Whitehouse Park enclave.