Railway Bridge, Old Ballygowan Road, Carnasure, Comber, Co Down

The site represents a former road bridge, likely constructed between 1840 and 1859, which once carried the Old Ballygowan Road over the Belfast & Co. Down railway line, located approximately one mile southwest of Comber town centre in the townland of Carnasure, County Down. The bridge was built to accommodate the new railway line being constructed between Comber and Downpatrick (officially opening in March 1859), requiring a slight realignment of the Old Ballygowan Road. The bridge was described in 1973 as a skew bridge built of dark stone rubble with dressed voussoirs, a segmental arch, and battered abutments, featuring dressed coping to the parapets. At the time of the description, the condition was fair, although overgrown, with the railway cutting underneath being used as a rubbish tip. The railway line was abandoned in 1950, and the bridge was subsequently demolished sometime after 1973; the road itself has been straightened, returning to its original route predating the railway. Although no longer extant, it retains industrial archaeological interest. Primary sources consulted include an Ordnance Survey map from 1858 and publications by W.A. McCutcheon and Desmond Coakham.