Reg No
31211050
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Scientific, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1730 - 1735
Coordinates
98833, 284595
Date Recorded
21/08/2008
Date Updated
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Four-arch road bridge over river, built 1734; dated 1734[?]; extant 1760. Part overgrown walls centred on drag edged tooled cut-limestone triangular cutwaters to piers with lichen-covered cut-limestone coping to parapets. Series of four segmental arches with drag edged tooled limestone ashlar block-and-start voussoirs. Set in landscaped grounds shared with Westport House spanning Westport or Carrowbeg River.
A bridge erected to a design attributed to Richard Castle (d. 1751) contributing positively to the group and setting values of the Westport House estate with the architectural value of the composition, one colloquially known as "House Bridge", confirmed not only by the "sparrow pecked" sheer limestone dressings demonstrating good quality workmanship, but also by the elegant "sweep" of the arches making a pleasing visual statement at a crossing over the Westport or Carrowbeg River: meanwhile, a discreet benchmark remains of additional interest for the connections with cartography and the preparation of maps by the Ordnance Survey (established 1824).