Survey Data
Reg No
11901602
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social, Technical
Previous Name
Wilson Bridge
Original Use
Bridge
In Use As
Bridge
Date
1780 - 1790
Coordinates
265282, 217279
Date Recorded
16/10/2002
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch rubble stone hump back road bridge over canal, dated 1785, with dressed stone voussoirs, cut-stone stringcourse and rubble stone parapet walls having cut-stone date stone/plaque. Coursed dressed stone walls to abutments. Cut-stone piers. Rubble stone parapet walls. Cut-stone date stone/plaque. Single elliptical arch. Dressed stone voussoirs with cut-stone keystone. Squared rubble stone soffits with traces of render over. Sited spanning Grand Canal (Athy Branch) with tow path to east and grass banks to canal.
Appraisal
Wilson's Bridge is a fine stone bridge that forms an imposing feature on the Grand Canal (Athy Branch) and is one of a group of bridges on the section of that canal that passes through County Kildare. The construction of the arch that has retained its original shape is of technical and engineering merit - the arch is also unusual in having an elliptical profile where most of its counterparts are of round arches. The bridge exhibits good quality stone masonry and fine, crisp joints. The bridge is of considerable historical and social significance as a reminder of the canal network development in Ireland, which brought about many technical advances and encouraged the development of commercial activity in the late eighteenth century.