Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB19/20/002

Address :
Railway Bridge Upper Dunmurry Lane Dunmurry Lisburn Co Antrim

Townland:
Dunmurry

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
02/08/1993 00:00:00

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:
146/11SE

IG Ref:
J2920 6897

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Owner Category

Transport

Exterior Description And Setting

A skew arched stone bridge carries the main Belfast-Dublin railway over Upper Dunmurry Lane, immediately south of Dunmurry Station. The bridge is constructed entirely of ashlar Triassic sandstone except for its wing walls. The arch is of three-centred (‘semi-elliptical’) profile and has vee-jointed voussoirs which splay out to double as spandrels. A chamfered string course runs around the quoins and through the arch at spring level. Although the two-lane road dips under the arch, headroom is restricted to 8ft 0in/ 2.4m as denoted by the metal warning triangles affixed to the arch crowns on both faces. Alternate voussoirs are also painted yellow and black to give advance warning of the restricted headroom. Despite these warnings, the soffit exhibits extensive longitudinal scraping from traffic impacts. The soffit is of vee jointed ashlar sandstone. Although the arch is set skew to the line (ie not at right angles), these soffit blocks are jointed parallel with the springing. Tapered buttresses run up each side of the arch. Above the crown is a shallow platband, over which is a projecting string course; both these courses continue around the tops of the buttresses. Above the string course is a parapet coped with sandstone and terminating in advanced rectangular piers, also capped with sandstone. There are curved wing walls at the north end of the bridge, both of squared random blackstone coped with concrete (doubtless a replacement of the original sandstone copings). The bridge has been extended northwards to accommodate a pedestrian tunnel. This section is entirely of random sandstone blocks with rusticated facings. However, the sandstone is of paler colour (possibly imported) and is clearly later. The abutments’ blockwork has been brought to courses and embellished with margined/rusticated quoins. The narrow arch is of segmental profile and also has rusticated voussoirs. Each end of the soffit is initially of brick (seemingly original), but its core has been replaced with reinforced-concrete slabs). An ashlar sandstone string course runs under the parapet. The latter is coped with concrete. The splayed wing walls to the tunnel are also of randomly-sized rusticated sandstone blocks, all coped with concrete. At the end of the NE wing wall is a pair of similarly detailed gate pillars which mark the entrance to the footpath up to the station (Dublin direction). At the end of the NW wing is what appears to be an original gatepost, also at the entrance to the footpath up to the station (Belfast direction). It is of vee-jointed and margined ashlar with an oversailing rusticated sandstone cap

Architects

Thomas Jackson Woodhouse

Historical Information

The railway between Belfast and Lisburn was opened by the Ulster Railway Company in 1839. It has the distinction of being the first railway in Ulster and the second in Ireland (after the Dublin-Kingstown railway, opened in 1834). The line was extended to Armagh in 1848, and to Dublin (via Portadown) in 1852. The line was constructed by William Dargan (‘father’ of Irish railways) under the direction of John Godwin (who went on to become Professor of Engineering at Queen’s College, Belfast). The consultants to the Ulster Railway Co were William Bald (who built the Antrim Coast Road) and Thomas Jackson Woodhouse, Co Antrim’s first County Surveyor. Originally this line was a single track at 6ft 2in gauge. However, with the change to a 5ft 3in gauge throughout Ireland in 1846, it was re-laid as two lines, both to the new gauge. Fortunately, the doubling of the track had been allowed for in the depths of all the bridges along it, including this one. In 1876, the Ulster Railway Company amalgamated with various other railway enterprises to form the Great Northern Railway Company (Ireland). The Ulster Transport Authority took over operations in 1958, and the Northern Ireland Railway Co in 1968. Translink is now responsible for the line’s operation. The pedestrian tunnel is first shown on the 1901 OS 25-inch map. As it is not depicted on the 1894 edition, it must therefore have been added in the late 1890s. References - Primary sources: 1. PRONI OS/10/1/64/7/1, First edition OS 25-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 64-07 (1894). 2. PRONI OS/10/1/64/7/2, Second edition OS 25-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 64-07 (1901). References - Secondary sources: 1. McCutcheon, W.A. The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland, pp 104-105, 158 (Belfast: HMSO, 1980).

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form F. Structural System J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

V. Authorship X. Local Interest

Evaluation

The high quality of the bridge’s stonework, all of ashlar, reflects the solidity and ‘no expense spared’ image with which the Ulster Railway Company wished to project itself to the public. Although extended to the north, this has been done using high quality materials and is sympathetic to the original. The entire bridge is also a well-known landmark in this area and a tangible reminder of the railway’s illustrious history. It is also of historical interest in being one of the earliest railway bridges in Ulster. It has group value with other railway bridges on the same line.

General Comments

Date of Survey

05 June 2010