Description

William Adam, 1733; General Wade's classically-detailed bridge over River Tay on road from Crieff to Dalnacardoch. 5 segmental arches with 4 elegant obelisks to parapet framing centre arch. Chlorite schist rubble (see Notes) with ashlar dressings, keystones and voussoirs. Stepped band course and flat-coped parapet.

SW (UPSTREAM) ELEVATION: broad (60' span), taller centre arch with stepped keystone surmounted by white marble panel bearing crown, sceptre and sword at parapet; flanking cutwaters giving way to quoined refuges each containing panelled obelisk base at road level. Flanking arches (35' span) with raised and stepped voussoirs and full-height canted-out refuges with aediculed marble panels giving way to similarly-detailed outer arches (30' span) with small stone cannon projecting at outer elevations to W. Splayed approaches with flat-coped parapets and pyramidal copes.

NE (DOWNSTREAM) ELEVATION: mirrors above but aediculed panels with grey stone tablets.

Statement of Interest

Scheduled Ancient Monument partly in Weem Parish (W approach and 2 1/2 arches) and Dull Parish (E approach and 2 1/2 arches); E approach only is within the burgh. Erected for The Board of Ordnance to the order of Lt Gen George Wade, the stone was quarried, cut and tooled at local Bolfracks. The 'House of Commons Journal' of 1734 records that "the starlings are of oak, and the piers and landbreasts founded on piles shod with iron". Originally with steeply humpbacked centre and parapets 6' above the roadway. In 1932, 2 tablets with copies of Wade's original inscriptions were let into the stonework of two obelisk plinths, that to NE in English and that to SW in Latin. These record that the bridge, begun in April 1733, was finished within nine months, but this is not strictly true as General Wade stopped work for the winter leaving the bridge without parapets over the side arches. These were added the following year. Mackay records some extra details evident in the 1950s, these include small stone cannon over the small arches each projecting some 2', and hanging iron rings flanking the cutwaters of both centre piers.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wade's Bridge at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17572330

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

• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)