Railway Viaduct, Crawfordsburn Country Park, Crawfordsburn, Bangor, Co Down

Railway Viaduct, Crawfordsburn

A five-arch railway viaduct carrying the double-track Belfast-Bangor railway high over Crawfordsburn Glen, built for the Belfast, Holywood & Bangor Railway in the early 1860s to designs by Charles Lanyon. The viaduct was constructed between 1862 and 1865, opening on 19 May 1865. Extensive rock blasting and land access difficulties delayed completion to three years. This structure represents the single biggest engineering work on the line's course and is recognized as one of the most notable railway structures in the entire Province, alongside the Craigmore and Randalstown Viaducts.

The viaduct is constructed of rock-faced sandstone blocks laid to regular courses with rusticated, margined and vee-jointed quoins. The slender piers are slightly tapered to all sides and detailed as the abutments. A moulded sandstone string course runs around the tops of the abutments and piers at arch spring level. Buttresses to the ends of both abutments are detailed as the piers. The five arches are of equal size and semicircular profile. Footpaths run under the first, fourth and fifth arches from the west end, and the river flows under the fourth arch. The arch voussoirs are detailed as the arch and pier quoins, whilst the soffits are of brick—reflecting a shift away from entirely stone soffits. The spandrels are of random sandstone blocks. A cut sandstone string course runs along the base of the parapet and continues as copings to the wing walls. Wing walls curve out at both ends, detailed as the spandrels. The sandstone copings to the north-east wall have been replaced with cast concrete blocks.

The deck is cantilevered out to each side in reinforced concrete, with lattice-steel handrails along both sides. The railings terminate in sandstone terminal piers detailed as the abutments and piers. Projecting footplates are an addition contributing to the bridge's historical interest, likely added when the line was doubled. The original single-track line required no widening of the bridge structure itself due to the width of the original abutments. In 1978–79, the deck was renovated and the present cantilevered sections date from that work. A metal sign on one of the piers records this as bridge no. 363.

Close to the east end of the viaduct is a single-arched underpass with detailing similar to the viaduct. The north side has stone retaining wing walls and replacement reconstituted stone parapet; the arch is blocked up.

Although the railway arrived in Holywood from Belfast in 1848, the Holywood-Bangor section on which this bridge is located was not constructed until 1862. When the line opened, the Belfast & County Down Railway purchased the Belfast-Holywood section from the BHBR. In 1873, the entire line was leased back to the BCDR and transferred to them outright in 1884. The line was taken over by the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948 and subsequently by Northern Ireland Railways in 1968. It is now operated by Translink.

The proportions, quality of stonework and attention to architectural detail are of high merit. The viaduct is of national interest as an outstanding example of mid-19th-century railway architecture. It stands within Crawfordsburn Glen, a small wooded valley leading toward the sea with a river running through it, forming part of Crawfordsburn Country Park.