Description

Circa 1873. Skewed cast-iron arch bridge, open spandrel, with 4 ribs and solid cast-iron plate parapets with broad panels separated by narrow strips with rounded heads. Faces of external arch ribs decorated with moulded strips to emphasise arch form. Massive stone abutments, wing walls and associated parapets of bull-faced ashlar, with polished string course at road level and polished copes. Terminal pilasters and dies.

Statement of Interest

A good unaltered example of a cast-iron arch railway overbridge. A similar bridge of the same date on the Lanark branch still carries the main road traffic, but has had its parapets reduced. The bridge carried what was the main access roadway from the Hyndford Road (A73) into the Bonnington Estate, passing Bonnington Mains Farm en route to Bonnington House. It also carried traffic to Robbiesland Farm which was also originally part of the estate. Maps indicate that there were several tracks in to the estate, the tourist route being that from the S end of New Lanark and on which there was a gatekeeper who issued tickets.

The earliest part of this railway was constructed by the Lanark Railway Line but it was taken over by the Caledonian Railway in 1855. The Lanark to Douglas branch opened on 1 April 1864 and the extension to Muirkirk over which this bridge spanned was opened for goods on 1 January 1873 and for passengers on 1 June 1874.

List description updated 2010.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17851880

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
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  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
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  For the Record
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  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy