Bridge at Ballyknockan Mill, Tullygarvan Road, Tullygarvan & Ballyknockan, Ballygowan, Co. Down, BT23 6[?NB]

The bridge at Ballyknockan Mill, located on the Tullygarvan Road near Ballygowan in County Down, is a low-level road bridge built around 1810. It carries the Ballyknockan Road over the Ballygowan River and a former mill race that once served Ballyknockan corn mill. The bridge is constructed from random whinstone rubble and features two low, semicircular arches on the southern side, separated by a cutwater that splits the river into two channels – one forming the mill race flowing west, and the other continuing east. The arches are more widely spaced on the northern side of the road. A low parapet runs along the northern side; the southern parapet was rebuilt recently and is slightly taller, though retaining a similar rough appearance. The road surface is tarmac.

The bridge appears on Ordnance Survey maps from 1834 and 1858, alongside the mill. The corn mill itself was built in 1810 by David Orr and included a metal breast wheel 13 feet in diameter and 4 feet 1 inch in breadth; Orr also built a flax mill nearby with a larger wheel. It is likely that the bridge was built or rebuilt around the same time. The southern parapet has been recently rebuilt. The derelict mill buildings and the remains of a water wheel are located to the west of the bridge. Records indicate that some former flax mill buildings have been converted into a dwelling. The bridge is considered to have industrial archaeological interest.