Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB19/10/006

Address :
Road-over-railway Bridge Moira Road Lisburn Co Antrim BT28

Townland:
Teraghafeeva of Lissue

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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:
165/9

IG Ref:
J2355 6322

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Owner Category

Central Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

A two-arch brick and stone bridge carries the Lisburn-Moira road over the former Lisburn-Castlewellan railway. The abutments, pier, spandrels, parapets and wing walls are of quarried random rubble basalt. The quoins of the abutments and piers, together with the ends of the wing walls and parapets, are finished with rusticated and margined basalt blocks. Both arches are of segmental profile and set slightly skewly to the abutments. Their soffits are of purple brick (orthogonally laid), with three soldier courses forming the voussoirs. Rusticated sandstone platbands run through each arch at spring level. A rusticated sandstone string course runs along the base of each parapet and around the ends of the latter’s out-projecting terminal piers. The wing walls are also coped with rusticated sandstone blocks; the copings are partly missing on both wings on the north side. The parapets are coped with dressed sandstone blocks with rusticated edges. The approaches to the bridge are ramped. The slightly curved deck carries two lanes of traffic and a footpath. Modern timber partitions now cut across each arch to separate the properties at either end of the bridge. No traces of the railway line survive on either side, the ground having been levelled for factory storage purposes.

Architects

Thomas Jackson

Historical Information

This bridge lies on the Knockmore Junction – Banbridge section of the Lisburn - Castlewellan railway. This section was opened by the Banbridge, Lisburn & Belfast Railway in July 1863. Upon completion, the line was worked by the Ulster Railway and was amalgamated into the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) in 1876. Thomas Jackson, the BLBR’s consultant engineer, designed stations at Hillsborough and Dromore, and was probably also responsible for this bridge. Although this section of line is shown on some 1857 OS six-inch maps, these are actually later (undated) revisions of the original plate. It is correctly shown on OS maps from 1900 onwards. The line eventually reached Castlewellan in 1906 under the auspices of the GNR(I) and was linked to Newcastle by the Belfast & Co Down Railway in the same year. Although the bridge was designed with two tracks in mind (one through each arch), only one was ever laid. The Banbridge – Castlewellan section was closed in 1955, and the remainder of the line the following year. References – Primary sources: 1. PRONI OS/6/1/68/2. Second edition OS six-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 68 (1857). 2. PRONI OS/10/1/68/1/1 First edition OS 25-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 68-01 (1900). References - Secondary sources: 1. W.A. McCutcheon (1980), The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland, p.161 (Belfast: HMSO). 2. S. Johnson (1997), Johnson’s Atlas & Gazetteer of the Railways of Ireland, p.101 (Leicester: Midland Publishing).

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Two-arch road-over-railway bridge of early 1860s date which demonstrates the early use of brick in bridge construction during the mid 1800s. Constructed mainly in basalt with rusticated sandstone dressings, the bridge is of local historical interest as a reminder of this former branch railway. Set adjacent to a large industrial plant there are no traces of the original railway line it once served. Although interesting there are better examples still in use already listed in the area and it is not considered of sufficient quality for listing.

General Comments

Date of Survey

08 February 2011