Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB25/17/001

Address :
Shaw's Bridge Milltown Road Belfast BT8

Townland:
Ballynavally Malone Upper

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
25/11/1992 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:
147/09SW

IG Ref:
J3249 6903

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Owner Category

Central Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

Shaw’s Bridge is a five-arch masonry bridge over the River Lagan on the county boundary between Antrim and Down. It formerly carried the Milltown Road, but is now restricted to pedestrian traffic, having been superseded by a new single-span reinforced-concrete road bridge a short distance downstream. The bridge is of random rubble construction throughout. There are angled cutwaters on the up- and downstream faces of the piers, rising to arch spring level. There is also a stone buttress on the downstream face of the left-bank (W) abutment. All the arches are of segmental profile with split stone voussoirs. The three middle arches are wider than the end ones, but all are the same height. The right-bank (E) arch is dry and spans a public footpath which runs upstream to the Minnowburn. Parts of the parapets have been reconstructed, in matching rubble stonework and are coped with chamfered sandstone blocks, again replaced in places. In the middle of the inside face of the N (downstream) parapet are vestiges of a cast-iron parliamentary boundary post (this also marked the county boundary). A short distance east on the opposite face is a bench mark incised into the stonework. Vehicular access to the bridge is blocked by two concrete bollards at the E end of the bridge. There was formerly stone towpath ramps down from the upstream/W and downstream/E ends of the bridge to a towpath which ran from Belfast to Lisburn. All traces of the E ramp were removed when the new road bridge was built in the 1970s. A zig-zag footpath was subsequently constructed just downstream from this end to facilitate access between the riverbank footpath and road. Although overgrown vestiges of the W ramp survive, access to its top end is now blocked by a rubble stone wall, whilst access from the bottom is likewise hindered by a recently-built boat house belonging to the Belfast Activity Centre. Just beyond this end of the bridge is a public car park.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

This bridge is named after a Mr Shaw, a captain in Cromwell’s Army who is said to have built a timber bridge across the river hereabouts around 1650. It is captioned as “Shawe’s Bridge” on William Petty’s c.1654 baronial map Belfast. When the new concrete road bridge was being built just downstream in the mid 1970s, timber piles were unearthed and tree-ring dated to 1617. Assuming they were bridge timbers (which is by no means certain), they are obviously earlier than Shaw’s (and also preceded the Long Bridge across the mouth of the Lagan by five years). This earlier bridge may have been destroyed during the 1641 rebellion and then rebuilt by Shaw. In 1691, Shaw’s timber bridge was replaced by a masonry structure erected by Colonel Thomas Burgh, an Irish military engineer (he became Surveyor-General in 1700). His bridge was destroyed by floods and replaced with the present one in 1709. This bridge apparently had six arches, and as the present one has only five, it must have been partly rebuilt subsequently (possibly in 1778 when it was repaired). A bridge is shown at this location on Taylor & Skinner’s 1777 map, and captioned as Shaw’s Bridge on Lendrick’s 1780 map and all OS maps from the 1830s onwards. It is also mentioned in the 1833 Ordnance Survey Memoir, but no details are given. When the Lagan Navigation between Belfast and Lisburn opened in 1763, it was also used by horses towing the barges to cross between the right (Co Down) to left (Co Antrim) sides of the river. It was superseded by a new road bridge in 1976 and is now restricted to pedestrian use only. References – Primary sources: 1. PRONI T2313/1/17. William Petty’s Map of the Barony of Belfast, c.1654. 2. G. Taylor & A. Skinner, Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777, p.5 (Dublin, 1778). 3. PRONI D606/1. Lendrick, J. A Map of the County of Antrim from Actual Survey (1780). 4. OS Memoir for Drumbo Parish. Reprinted as A. Day & P. McWilliams (eds), Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland: Parishes of County Down II, 1832-37, North Down & the Ards (Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1991). 5. PRONI OS/6/1/64/1. First edition OS six-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 64 (1832). 6. PRONI OS/6/3/9/1. First edition OS six-inch map, Co Down sheet 9 (1834). References – Secondary sources: 1. M. Jope (ed), An Archaeological Survey of County Down, p.440 (Belfast: HMSO, 1966). 2. Dept Environment N. Ireland, £450,000 Shaw's Bridge Scheme, in Ulster Commentary, May 1976, p.8. 3. P. Larmour, Belfast: an Illustrated Architectural Guide, p.104 (Belfast: Friars Bush Press, 1987). 4. M. Gould, Shaw's Bridge Belfast, in Ulster Architect, vo.11 (8), p.41 (1994). 5. C.E.B. Brett, Buildings of North County Down, pp 246-247 (Belfast: UAHS, 2002).

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form F. Structural System H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity U. Historic Associations X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A five-arch masonry bridge of earlier 18th century date and which formerly carried a road over the River Lagan, but now restricted to pedestrians. The extensive use of random rubble in its construction and lack of embellishment are typical of bridges constructed before the mid 19th century. This was the first bridge over the Lagan within the Greater Belfast area and is the earliest surviving example of all the road bridges over the Lagan. It is also a well known local landmark of the Lagan Valley Regional Park within which it is located.

General Comments

Date of Survey

06 May 2011