The Mound

The Mound comprises a 6-arched rubble bridge, a keeper’s cottage, and an elongated eastern mound. The bridge was initially built between 1815 and 1838 by Thomas Telford, with two further arches added in 1837 by Joseph Mitchell, resulting in a total of four arches. The bridge features dressed rubble arch rings and a parapet, with triangular cutwaters on the north side. Each arch is fitted with flood-gates and hoisting gear, and a small winch house flanks each side of the bridge. The flood-gates now operate by engine, and historically controlled the water level, holding back water as the tide rises and allowing fresh water to escape as the tide recedes.

The keeper’s cottage is a single-storey, three-bay building with a prominent, gabled central bay. A porch is located in the south re-entrant angle. The cottage is harled with tooled ashlar margins, and features a hoodmoulded tripartite window in the central gable, with similar bipartites in the outer bays. Some small-pane glazing remains, and the roof is slate with projecting joisted eaves, topped with paired ridge stacks.

The eastern mound, approximately 1000 yards long, closes off Strathfleet and connects to the north bank by the bridge. The construction involved a substantial investment of $12,500, shared by the County of Sutherland, Lord Gower ($8,000, Sutherland Estates), and Parliamentary Commissioners. The construction resulted in the drainage of 400 acres previously covered by water at high tide.