Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB24/15/026

Address :
Marsh Bridge, near Killinchy Road, Comber, Co. Down BT23 5AP

Townland:
Comber Town Parks

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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:
Yes

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OS Map No:
148/10

IG Ref:
J4638 6892

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Owner Category

Miscellaneous

Exterior Description And Setting

Disused railway bridge over the Comber River, sited a short distance to the E of Killinchy Street, to the SE of Comber town centre. The bridge is mainly constructed of rough faced Scrabo sandstone with a large semicircular arch. Both sides of the bridge are now largely obscured by thick creeping plant growth, though both appear to have battered piers each side of the arch, with dressed voussoirs to the arch itself. The intrados is in dressed sandstone but with a lower portion (between a springing band and the base) in rock faced basalt. Above, the railway track has been removed and the ground overgrown. The parapet is now missing and replaced on the S side by concrete posts with wire between.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

This bridge was built in c,1848-50 to carry the Belfast & County Down Railway’s line between Newtownards and Comber, itself opened in 1850. The line was abandoned in 1953. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI OS map 1st rev. 1858, Down 10. 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), pp.26-31.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Now disused railway bridge of c.1848-50, built to carry the BCDR line between Newtownards and Comber. Mainly constructed in Scrabo sandstone the structure is now largely obscured by plant growth and the parapet.

General Comments

Date of Survey

22 April 1999