Red Bridge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single-span brick and stone bridge of 1852 carries the Ballyrobert Road from Crawfordsburn to the main Bangor-Belfast road over Clandeboye Avenue.

The bridge is of red brick construction with ashlar sandstone detailing. The sandstone quoins to the abutments are chamfered and grooved. They continue as voussoirs around the arch which is of two-centred profile. Directly over the voussoirs a projecting sandstone drip mould which continues part way down each abutment. Above the drip mound is a single course of sandstone blocks.

Directly over the arch crown on both faces is a recessed square sandstone panel with moulded surround. The panel on the south face carries the date 1852 in bas-relief. The panel on the north face is obscured by overgrowth and may also bear this date.
The bridge is framed to both sides by rectangular pilasters with stepped sandstone quoins. They rise to low circular brick turrets at road level; these also double as terminal piers to the parapets. The bases of the turrets are carried on moulded sandstone corbels. A moulded sandstone string course runs along the base of the parapets between these corbels. The turrets are embellished with blank sandstone ’window loops’. The parapets are coped with moulded sandstone blocks which continue around the tops of the turrets.

Setting

The carriageway runs at an angle across the bridge and comprises a two-lane road and footpath. A private garden occupies the space between the edge of the road and the parapet on the south side. The corresponding space on the north side is heavily overgrown, as is this parapet. Clandeboye Avenue is now a public footpath between Helen’s Bay and the Clandeboye Estate. It is accessible from the road via a track at the north-west end of the bridge.

Walling: Brick/sandstone

Historical information

The present road is shown on the 1834 OS six-inch map. However, the avenue between Helen's Bay and the Clandeboye Estate was not laid out until the early 1850s; it was designed by the landscape architect James Fraser for the 1st Marquis of Dufferin & Ava. This bridge, which crosses it, bears the date 1852 and was an entirely new construction on the existing line of the road. It is marked as ‘Viaduct’ on the 1858 OS map and as ‘Red Bridge’ from the 1900 edition onwards.
It is possibly the work of Benjamin Ferrey as it is similar in style to his early 1860s railway bridge at Helen’s Bay Station (HB23/15/039D). It is also similar to a road bridge of 1853 just north of that station (HB23/15/039F) which may also be his work.

References – Primary sources:
1. PRONI OS/6/3/1/1. First edition OS six-inch map, Co Down sheet 1 (1834).
2. 1852 datestone on bridge.
3. PRONI OS/6/3/1/2. Second edition OS six-inch map, Co Down sheet 1 (1858).
4. PRONI OS/6/3/1/3. Third edition OS six-inch map, Co Down sheet 1 (1900).

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

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An 1852 brick and stone road bridge, possibly the work of Benjamin Ferrey. It encompasses neo-Gothic and Scottish Baronial elements, in the form of its two-centred moulded arch and corbelled turrets respectively and its appearance reflects the style of Helen's Bay station and the bridges associated with it. Unusually for a bridge of this period, it is of brick rather than stone construction (hence its name ‘Red Bridge’), albeit detailed with dressed sandstone. Its plan form is also of interest: given that the road already existed, one might have expected a skew bridge or even an orthogonal one set with its axis at right angles to the road. The former is more expensive to build and the latter might have created a dogleg in the avenue below. This example is both orthogonal and aligned on the avenue (maintaining its straight course) but wide enough to allow the road to run straight across it also. The bridge is also of historical interest because of its link with the Clandeboye Estate and the Helen's Bay railway station structures.