Survey Data

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

--/--/--


Description

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.

Appraisal

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).