Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB24/16/035

Address :
Bridge, Magherascouse Road (near No.118), Magherascouse, Comber, Co. Down BT23 5[?RU]

Townland:
Magherascouse

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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:
167/2

IG Ref:
J4483 6625

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Owner Category

Central Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

Road bridge (over former railway), on the Magherascouse Road, c.2 miles S of Comber. The bridge is in basalt rubble with an elliptical arch with brick intrados. Sandstone coping to parapet (partly patched in concrete). Sandstone ‘quoins’ to parapet and as course above the arch. The arch on both sides is now fringed with ‘Tyrolean’ render. There is a pipe attached to the bridge on the NE side. OS benchmark to right on NE parapet. The road is covered in tarmac.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

This bridge was probably constructed 1856-7 to carry the [present] Magherascouse Road over the new BCDR railway line between Comber and Downpatrick (officially opened in March 1859). The bridge is indicated on the OS map of 1858. The railway closed in 1950. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI OS map 1st rev. 1858-60 Down 10. 2 EHS OS map 167-2 (1:2500) 1972. 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

Road bridge of c.1856, in basalt rubble and sandstone, over a now disused railway cutting.

General Comments

Date of Survey

20 January 1999