Building record MAB13666 - CASTLE BRIDGE, HUNTLY

Road bridge to Huntly Castle (NJ54SW0007) from the north.

Road bridge to Huntly Castle (NJ54SW0007) from the north. It comprises a single semi-circular arch rubble-built with ashlar voussoirs and intrados. It is also known as Elgin's Bridge, after the master mason, Elgin. Thought to have been built circa 1800, the date of construction has been reappraised following a visit in September 2012 to assess damage, and it is now thought to be between late 1400s and early 1600s. The general architectural details are as might be expected on masonry on major buildings and bridges dating from the 1400s, including style and shaping of the dressed sandstone ashlar blocks, use of chamfering and scrolling for edge detailing on end supports and in the arch barrel, use of sloping courses of masonry to increase the width of foundations. There is evidence of later specific widening of the south upstream approach with the original masonry remaining behind the later structure. Several stones with mason's marks typical of the medieval period were were recorded. The narrow width is also typical of the medieval period. A bridge over the Deveron close to the castle is shown on a number of historic maps including the Blaeu atlas of 1654 William Roy 1745-55, and Taylor and Skinner 1776. Blaeu lived from 1571 to 1638 so may have mapped the bridge in the early 1600s, suggesting that it may be contemporary with a phase of the castle to provide access to its gardens (shown on subsequent maps) to the north. It is not clear when the wing walls were built up. The original structure may have been just a 'garden structure' later modified to take more substantial transport. The southwest wing wall of the bridge collapsed in 2009. An assessment of the structure to inform a programme of conservation works was carried out in 2013. A watching brief was carried out during emergency repair works in January 2014 which uncovered a previously unrecorded cobbled surface. Subsequent excavation of a test pit revealed further archaeological horizons, possibly contemporary with the original construction of the bridge. A small number of medieval pottery sherds and samples of lime mortar were recovered.

Period Notes
Listed 16/04/1971.

MACPHERSON, D, 2012, REPORT ON THE REAPPRAISAL OF THE DATE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR CASTLE BRIDGE, HUNTLY (DRAFT) (Bibliographic reference). SAB5032.

HERBERT, C, 2014, CASTLE BRIDGE, HUNTLY: REPORT ON WATCHING BRIEF AND EXCAVATION, WB and excav report (Bibliographic reference). SAB4447.

ARCAHEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2015, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND. NEW SERIES, VOLUME 15, 2014, pp27-28 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5542.

Apr 8 1994 , MP 22-23, MP 22-23 (Ground Photograph). SAB33375.

Feb 17 2014 , AAS-GR-14-02-122, AAS-GR-14-02-122 (Ground Photograph). SAB13461.

Sep 13 2012 , AC-GR-12-09-003 - 012, AC-GR-12-09-003 - 012 (Ground Photograph). SAB18927.

Record last edited

Sep 8 2022 12:53PM