Huntly Bridge, Huntly Road, Banbridge, Co Down, BT32

Huntly Bridge is a twin-span masonry road bridge, built around 1857 over the River Bann. Despite its modest scale, it exemplifies mid-19th century bridge construction with segmental arches, high-quality workmanship, contrasting materials, and rounded cutwaters.

The bridge carries a two-lane road and is constructed of rock-faced, randomly sized blackstone blocks set in irregular courses, forming the abutments and piers. Semicircular cutwaters of regularly coursed blackstone blocks rise to arch spring level, capped with dressed granite topped with cement. The equi-sized arches have segmental profiles, random rubble soffits, and dressed granite voussoirs. The spandrels are of squared random rubble blackstone. A slit recess is present in the spandrel above the cutwater on the western (downstream) face, while a carved bearded head with the date ‘1857’ appears in the spandrel above the cutwater on the eastern (upstream) face. The parapets are also of squared blackstone rubble, coped with roughly dressed granite blocks and terminating in out-projecting piers. The riverbanks are protected by short lengths of random rubble blackstone walls above and below the bridge.

Prior to the construction of a bridge in 1712, this location served as an important fording point. Huntly Bridge was the first bridge at this site, built around 1857, superseding a wooden bridge shown on an 1833 map located slightly upstream. It appears uncaptioned on Ordnance Survey maps beginning in 1860. The bridge is situated near modern housing to the northeast, agricultural land to the southeast, sewage works to the northwest, and a dwelling to the southwest. The bridge holds significance as an example of industrial archaeology.