Survey Data

Reg No

15310086


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Social, Technical


Previous Name

Saunders Bridge


Original Use

Bridge


In Use As

Bridge


Date

1800 - 1810


Coordinates

244354, 252231


Date Recorded

20/07/2004


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Single-arch canal bridge carrying road over Royal Canal, built c.1806. Constructed of ashlar limestone with ashlar limestone detailing including a projecting string course at parapet base level/road level. Concave side walls to bridge. Located to the southeast of Mullingar. Rubble limestone walls run away to the east.

Appraisal

A typically well-built canal bridge, which is a valuable part of the architectural heritage of Westmeath and the industrial heritage of Ireland. Although humble in form, this structure has a simple and functional elegance with the concave profile of the side walls a notably feature. It is robustly built in fine stone masonry, which is testament to the long term ambitions of the Royal Canal Company at the start of the nineteenth century. This form of this bridge contrasts appealingly with the rusticated form of the later railway bridge to the west (15310087), illustrating changing design trends in engineering as the nineteenth century progressed.