Bessy Grae Bridge, Station Road, Doagh

Bessy Grae Bridge is a substantial three-span road bridge, constructed between 1780 and 1799, carrying Station Road over the Six Mile Water. The bridge is of note for its size, the number of arches, and its robust construction in granite. The piers, spandrels, and parapets are built from random rubble basalt, with granite coping to the parapet. The bridge features three segmental-headed arches with rubble stone voussoirs, and V-shaped cutwaters to the piers; the arch soffits are of random rubble. The carriageway is approximately 10 metres wide. The northern parapet wall has a lowered section, without coping, to act as a stile. Extensive embankments extend north, forming field boundaries, and include three further small segmental-headed arches with rendered soffits and stone voussoirs, allowing access through fields below road level. Drainage pipes project from the bridge walls at intervals. Located in a rural area south of Doagh, the bridge sits on the main road from Belfast. Modern fencing and hedging are present to the south, with hedging also to the north of the extended boundary wall. The bridge appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 and is referenced in the 1859 Griffiths Valuation map. The bridge is of local historical interest and possesses characteristics of industrial archaeological interest relating to its style, proportion, ornamentation, plan form, and structural system, as well as its setting.