Description

Circa 1795-1810. Single arch light estate road bridge. Wrought with some cast-iron, coursers and ashlar sandstone buttresses. Segmental arch with sprandrels formed by plain concentric circles diminishing in size towards crown of arch, linked by tie bars at soffit; parapet of plain quatrefoils with fencing added later. Timber decking and springing points have been raised, reducing camber. Buttresses slope back from river bed and have balustraded splays (balustrade extant at NE and SW only). North buttress has small round-headed arch over silted flood channel.

Statement of Interest

Linlathen House was built for David Graham in 1705 and extended for Thomas Erskine by William Sterling in circa 1830. The steading was dated 1770. This bridge is probably that shown on the 1827 plan of the estate which may have replaced an earlier (circa 1770?) bridge built to give independent access to the steading avoiding the drives to Linlathen House. The bridge appears to follow the 1795 patent of Richard Burdon MP, employed on its largest scale at Sunderland in 1796. The patent involved separate openwork cast-iron voussoirs held together by wrought-iron straps instead of the ribs being cast complete (as at Ironbridge). Two other bridges are known to survive involving this patent at Spanishtown, Jamiaca, 1801, and the solid-looking Tickford Bridge, Newport Pagnell (1819). The first large iron bridged in Europe, near Wroclaw in Silesia (1794-6) similarly had spandrels willed with dimishing rings meeting at a central keystone. The latter was by a Scottish engineer from Carron Ironworks, John Baildon.

Pending documentary confirmation, the Linlathen bridge appears to date from about 1795-1810 and will be the oldest iron bridge in Scotland, and amongst the oldest in the world. The extensive Graham of Fintry papers (SRO, GD151) might contain information regarding the bridge; only a brief examination of these papers was possible for this list entry.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17575949

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.

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