Lovat Bridge

The Lovat Bridge, built in 1810, is a five-span bridge designed by Thomas Telford. It is a symmetrical structure with a slight hump-back form. The bridge is constructed from tooled rubble stone with tooled ashlar dressings. The arches are defined by string courses and separated by triangular cutwaters rising to parapet height, which act as canted buttresses. A double string course runs along the bridge, and the tooled ashlar cope is repaired in places with cast replacements and is missing in other sections. Splayed approaches lead to square terminal piers. Later cast-iron guards have been fitted to the cutwaters facing upstream. The bridge was built for the Commission for Highland Roads and Bridges, costing $8,800, with Lord Lovat responsible for half of the sum. The River Beauly marks the boundary with Kilmorack Parish. References to the bridge can be found in Thomas Telford’s Autobiographical Atlas (1838), the New Statistical Account (1841), and A.R.B. Haldane’s New Ways Through the Glens (1962).