Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB24/16/009

Address :
Railway Bridge, off Saintfield Road, Ballygowan, Co. Down BT23 6HB

Townland:
Ballygowan

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Bridge

Former Use
Bridge

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
Yes

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
167/9

IG Ref:
J4281 6360

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Owner Category

Central Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

Railway bridge set at a slight skew over the Ballygowan River, to the N of the Saintfield Road, W of the centre of Ballygowan. Due to the closure of the railway, the apparent widening of the road, and the building of modern housing around the site, this bridge is almost totally invisible and largely inaccessible. The N face is hidden behind a mass of greenery to the E of a fairly recently constructed dwelling. This face is constructed in basalt rubble with a semicircular arch with sandstone voussoirs. The arch is flanked by large buttresses. The S face of the bridge faces directly into a steep bank (the course of the river turns 90o to the W at this point) and is inaccessible due not only to this bank but thick hedges which border it.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

This former railway bridge was built in 1856-7 as part of the new BCDR line between Comber and Downpatrick (which was officially opened in March 1859). It is shown on the OS map of 1858. The line closed in 1950 and the bridge is now largely inaccessible due to the construction of houses around the site and the widening of the near by Saintfield Road. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI OS map 1st rev. 1858-60 Down 16. 2 EHS OS map 167-9 (1:2500) 1973. Secondary sources 1 W.A. McCutcheon ‘The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland’ (HMSO 1980), pp.157, 175. 2 Desmond Coakham ‘Belfast & County Down Railway’ (Leicester 1998), p.41.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Railway bridge of the 1850s in basalt rubble and sandstone, now almost totally invisible and largely inaccessible due to building around the site.

General Comments

Date of Survey

19 January 1999