Footbridge over railway to south of Whitehead Railway Station, Chester Avenue, Whitehead, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, BT38 9QG

Footbridge over Railway to South of Whitehead Railway Station

A relatively rare example of a late Victorian/Edwardian single-span cast-iron foot bridge over the Belfast to Larne railway line, located to the south of Whitehead Railway Station. The bridge remains intact and in use, demonstrating its continued significance to the station and the town.

The bridge was erected around 1910 and consists of a cast-iron girder structure forming a depressed arch with wrought-iron latticed parapets and balustrades. A quarter-paced landing is provided on either side, with a newel post topped by a ball-headed finial at each corner. Access is gained via straight flights of steps to the east and west, featuring fretted iron risers and non-slip surfaces to the treads.

The parapet is supported by a series of swan-neck iron brackets. The landings rest on four cast-iron columns with ornate Corinthian capitals and fluted lower sections, with elliptical-headed fretted spandrels between them. Iron plaques on the north and south elevations identify the maker as "Walter Macfarlane & Co., Architectural, Sanitary & Artistic Ironfounders, Saracen Foundry, Glasgow". The bridge displays construction of considerable technical merit, with the attractive arched form enhanced by ornate detailing and fretwork.

The footbridge is accessed by seven concrete steps enclosed by English Garden wall bonded red brick walling at the east and west of the railway.

The iron footbridge was built by the McFarlanes during a period of substantial development at Whitehead Station. The station lies on the Belfast-Larne line, with the Carrickfergus-Larne section having opened in 1862 by the Carrickfergus & Larne Railway. A platform was added at Whitehead in 1864, which was replaced in 1877 by a new station designed by the railway's consultant architect John Lanyon, located closer to the village. The Belfast & Northern Counties Railway subsequently acquired the Carrickfergus & Larne Railway and made substantial additions to Whitehead Station in the mid-1890s, designed by architect John Hanna. These improvements formed part of efforts to develop Whitehead as a seaside resort, with the railway offering ten years of free first class travel to anyone building a residence within a mile radius of the station. The station master's house was erected in the 1870s to Lanyon's design, and the waiting room was built in the 1890s by Hanna.