Old Blair Bridge over Banvie Burn

The Old Blair Bridge is an early 18th century round-arched military bridge, later raised to accommodate a higher carriageway. It crosses the Banvie Burn within the policies of the Blair Atholl estate and remains in use. The original 18th century military bridge is constructed of rubble with roughly dressed voussoirs forming the arch. It arises from rubble masonry abutments built on bedrock on either side of the river; however, the eastern abutment has been encased in concrete. The heightened carriageway does not extend across the entire width of the bridge, and the southern quarter of the original 18th century bridge’s carriageway is visible where a pathway has been maintained. The southern parapet is present and extends beyond both ends of the bridge, flaring outwards to form the approaches. The later heightened carriageway is raised upon rubble masonry walls that extend above the carriageway to form high parapets.

Between the early 1720s and the late 1750s, approximately 1700 kilometres of military roads were built in Scotland, initially under the direction of General Wade and subsequently Major William Caulfeild. Road improvements were made to connect garrisons, including Fort William, Fort Augustus, and Fort George, and to extend the network, including a route between Dunkeld and Inverness.

The bridge likely relates to an early phase of road building between Old Blair and Dalnacardoch, undertaken in 1728. Later alterations, involving the construction of a raised carriageway to connect with the estate road, occurred before 1861, as shown on the Ordnance Survey 1st edition map.