Old Stirling Bridge
| The Old Bridge | |
| Stirlingshire | |
|---|---|
 Stirling Old Bridge, viewed from the road bridge | |
| Location | |
| Carrying: | foot and bicycle traffic |
| Crossing: | River Forth |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NS79719457 |
| Location: | 56°7’43"N, 3°56’13"W |
| Structure | |
| Length: | 268 feet |
| Material: | stone |
| History | |
| Information | |
Stirling Old Bridge is an old, stone bridge which crosses the River Forth in Stirling, both banks in Stirlingshire. For many centuries the bridge across the river at this point provided the lowest crossing point of the Forth, which gave it vital strategic importance.[1] The current bridge was built around 1500, and it was not until 1833 that any lower bridge was built, and that just beside it: Stirling New Bridge.
The bridge is a Category A Listed struture.[2]
History
The stone bridge was constructed on rubble foundations around 1500.[2] It replaced earlier wooden bridges, including that by and on which the Battle of Stirling Bridge was fought.
The bridge allowed Stirling to grow and thrive from the earliest days. King David I founded the Royal Burgh of Strivelin at the bridge head, and the castle followed. So important was the bridge, as the one point where the river could be crossed dryshod, that Mediæval maps showed the Highlands as an island, joined to Great Britain only by Stirling Bridge, guarded by Stirling Castle.
The bridge originally had arches at either end and a defensive gate at the end nearer the burgh. Tolls were levied on goods being taken across the bridge.[3]:114
In December 1745, General William Blakeney, lieutenant governor of Stirling Castle, had one of the bridge arches destroyed to hinder the movement of the Jacobite Army.[3] The destroyed arch was rebuilt in 1749.[4][5]
In May 1833 the adjacent new road bridge was opened to traffic and the Old Bridge was closed to wheeled traffic.[1][3]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Old Stirling Bridge) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Old Bridge". https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst18263.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Historic Environment Scotland LB41129 Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mair, Craig (1990). Stirling: The Royal Burgh. John Donald. ISBN 0859764206.
- ↑ "Statement of significance: Stirling Old Bridge". Historic Environment Scotland. https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationId=9bc727a7-a6fa-49f1-b718-a6c9010395f7.
- ↑ CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Stirling, Causewayhead
| Bridges and crossings on the River Forth | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drip Bridge | M9 Forth Bridge | Old Mills Farm Footbridge | Old Stirling Bridge | Stirling New Bridge | Caledonian Railway Bridge | North British Railway Bridge |