Survey Data
Reg No
11806004
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Scientific, Technical
Previous Name
Bens Bridge
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1780 - 1785
Coordinates
279003, 225125
Date Recorded
22/04/2002
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch hump back bridge over canal, dated 1784. Part ivy-covered repointed walls with braced lichen-spotted cut-limestone coping to parapets centred on drag edged cut-limestone date stones ("1784"). Single round arch with drag edged limestone ashlar voussoirs centred on drag edged cut-limestone keystones. Sited spanning Grand Canal with grass banks to canal.
Appraisal
A bridge identified as an important component of the later eighteenth-century civil engineering heritage of County Kildare on account of the connections with the extension of the Grand Canal to Robertstown (1785) by the Grand Canal Company (established 1772) with the architectural value of the composition, one named in honour of John Binns (d. 1804) 'who subsequently had a disagreement with his fellow directors and changed his allegiance to the Royal Canal', confirmed not only by the silver-grey limestone dressings demonstrating good quality workmanship, but also by the elegant "sweep" of the arch making a pleasing visual statement at a crossing over the canal: meanwhile, a much weathered benchmark remains of additional interest for the connections with cartography and the preparation of maps by the Ordnance Survey (established 1824).