Survey Data
Reg No
31310019
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Bridge
Date
1785 - 1838
Coordinates
120903, 275955
Date Recorded
07/03/2011
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Single-arch hump back bridge over river, extant 1838. Now disused. Drag edged rusticated limestone ashlar walls with balustraded parapets having lichen-spotted cut-limestone coping. Single segmental arch with lichen-spotted drag edged rusticated limestone ashlar voussoirs. Set in unkempt grounds shared with Towerhill House spanning Annies River with overgrown banks to river.
Appraisal
A bridge contributing positively to the group and setting values of the Towerhill House estate with the architectural value of the composition confirmed not only by the rusticated surface finish demonstrating good quality workmanship, but also by the elegant "sweep" of the arch making a pleasing visual statement at a crossing over the Annies River realigned (1850-2) for Valentine O'Connor Blake JP DL (1808-79) as an off-shoot of the county-wide famine relief drainage works completed under the Drainage (Ireland) Act, 1846, 'a great improvement [affecting] the appearance of the demesne [with new] ponds, formerly mere swamps, now ornamental sheets of water' (Twenty-First Report 1853, 132).